I Know You're Out There Somewhere
by Dindrane
Summary: Pegasus struggles with the loss of his dream, Joey faces drastic changes in his life, Seto gets caught between his new love and an old enemy. Yaoi. Primarily SetoJou. R&R.
1. Shadow Realm

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Chapter 1: The Shadow Realm

A/N: Originally this fic was posted in September of 2003 on fan fiction, but was taken down in December due to its graphic content and it actually should be rated NC-17. What I've decided to do, in my limited wisdom, is repost it and 'bleep' out the lemons. Anyone who is interested in the original, uncut, uncensored version should go visit adult fan fiction. This **is **yaoi. My beta and I have put an incredible amount of time and effort into the quality of this story. If you don't like it, the premise of it, or the content, please don't complain to me about it. Just go find something that is more to your liking. On the other hand, if you have a question or don't understand something, please feel free to ask. I am so not scary and I will do my best to give you a satisfactory response. BTW, this is a novel length fic. At this time, it is still unfinished at 37 chapters.

I've taken my fair share of poetic license with this fic. Don't hurt me for it. Just practice suspending your disbelief and go with it. This story, especially at the beginning has a lot of background information. Almost everything in it leads to something else later on. Don't let it throw you. It does all come together. I'm also working from a premise that a person's awareness of the passage of time is different in the Shadow Realm than it is in reality. I have a tendency to switch back and forth between 'Joey' and 'Jou' when referring to Jonouchi. I tried 'Joe' out and it was just wrong. Everybody else's name is the American version. Also I apologize for my overly Americanized version of Japan and Egypt. I've made the ages of the characters different than they are in the manga. Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea are 17. Seto is 18, Serenity is 15, Mokuba is 13, and poor Pegasus I've made an old man of 37! In the anime, I always thought of him as being forty-ish. Imagine my shock when I found out he's 23 in the manga!

Disclaimer: I own no rights to the Yugioh franchise. This is a not for profit story written for the sole purpose of amusing myself and anyone who cares to read it. Flames will be used to lower this coming winter's fuel bills.

………………….

Excerpt from the journal of Maximillion J. Pegasus:

__

My darling Cecelia, all of my plans are about to come to fruition. Soon you will be returned to my arms, and yet, I am still apprehensive-will you be able to forgive the man I have become? Will you be able to forgive that terrible moment of weakness when, grief-stricken and shattered by loss, I gave our child up to the custody of strangers?

Tea stopped reading and looked up from the journal at the three silent boys standing before her. Her eyes were glazed over with tears, and she blinked them back before anyone else could notice. It wouldn't do to be caught showing pity for a man who had been their enemy a scant few hours ago.

"Pegasus had a kid?" Joey sounded shocked as he grabbed the leather-bound book from Tea's hands and reread the relevant passage. "Hey, it's a good thing he gave the kid up. The poor thing probably would've ended up as twisted as dear old dad!"

"Yeah, I'd say that kid lucked out." Tristan agreed.

……………….

One year later.

Maximillion Pegasus was struggling with shock, mental anguish, and a broken heart. He barely registered his purple-black surroundings as he covered the empty socket where the Millennium Eye had been with one hand and tried to stand. Gradually, the realization that he was a disembodied spirit trapped in the Shadow Realm, his physical body lost behind the proverbial "mortal veil", set in. Even as he looked over his present body, he knew that it was merely a convenience, a memory of its former shell that his soul had not forgotten, and he buried the rest of his face in his free hand. He had failed, his life's work permanently lost to him. Defeated, he stopped trying to stand, instead throwing his head back and loosing an insanely evil laugh. What was the point in fighting the insanity any longer?

"Maximillion…" The dulcet tones of an angel's voice broke through his hysteria. As he looked up, he realized that it wasn't just any angel, but _his_ angel.

"Cecelia?" he whispered, scarcely daring to believe it.

She was there in a heartbeat, her petal soft hands cupping his face as he stared into the crystalline depths of his lost love's concerned gaze. Though even this small movement exacted a toll from his soul, he turned his face a little and kissed the palm of her delicate hand reverently.

"I could stay here forever and simply gaze on the flower that is your face," he said as his lips enveloped hers tenderly, chastely, and yet still conveying the immense power of his passion.

"I see you have lost none of your charm," she smiled softly, yet tragically. "You have to go back, Max. Your body is still alive, but the longer you stay here, the weaker your body will become."

"It doesn't matter, my darling." Max's tone was that of one who is so happy that they are delirious. "We're together. We'll be together forever."

"No, Max. We won't." Cecelia was angry now, and this sudden shift shocked him back to lucidity quicker than any slap to the face. "You have to listen to me. If your body dies, your soul will be trapped here, as mine is. We would be together for a while, but your soul and mine would eventually be destroyed. We will never be reunited, in life or death, if you surrender your soul to the Shadow Realm." Decisively, she swept his thick silver hair away from the empty eye socket, pressing a soft kiss to the scarred flesh. "I know you can find a way, Max. That's why you have to return and find a way to save my eternal soul from this innately evil place."

Tears filled her cerulean eyes as she wrapped her arms around her husband, pressing her face into his chest. He returned her embrace. laying his silver head on her golden one. He had missed this so much; with every breath since her death, the large, empty void in him had grown vaster, and he knew that without her, it would eventually swallow him.

"Love eternal will not be denied, Lady Pegasus," he whispered to her soothingly, his mellow voice gently caressing her ear.

"Oh Max, there's so little time." She pulled away from him then, both frustrated and sick with worry. "You're just a pawn in the Shadow Games. They needed someone with enough strength to wield the Millennium Eye to resurrect their awful power, and they searched for ages before they found you. They used me to get to you. Your exceptional gifts made you perfect for their plans-brilliant, artistic, psychic, and imaginative. You should never have been forced to take that horrid Eye, but now you have to go back and stop this evil."

"How can you know any of this, Cecelia, and why are you here, in the Shadow Realm?" His voice was tender and imploring, his single amber eye filled with confusion and doubt.

"Max, you still have some Shadow powers. Your own natural abilities made it possible for you to absorb some of the magic of the Eye and make it your own. Because of that, you can leave any time you wish, and you must leave soon." Cecelia was nearly frantic to get her beloved out of there, ignoring his desire for answers as well as her own to have him returned to her after so long.

"How can you possibly know…?" he persisted, and she shook her head impatiently. He could be so very single-minded at the worst of times.

Finally, she answered carefully, unwilling to provoke more questions but recognizing the inevitability of this eventuality. "From the moment my body died, I have been here."

"Here? In the Shadow Realm? No, it isn't true. It cannot be true," he said, mired in denial. He had been on this plane so often when he had had the Millennium Eye; how had he never picked up even a trace of her aura?

She looked away sadly, unable to tell him the whole truth at this point. She had been murdered by a fruit-cake secret cult in order to set in motion events to establish a 'new world order', her soul imprisoned in this dark and vile dimension to taunt him into doing their evil will unknowingly. How could she possibly tell this elegant and gentle man that he was no more than a fly caught in a web of lies, and that she had been only bait to lure him in?

"Cecelia, I've done terrible, unspeakable things." He grasped her arms, willing her to look at him. "I've stolen souls and cast away the empty shells. I've manipulated innocent children with their captured loved ones. I've created monsters and I've _become_ a monster. I gave up our child to some unknowable fate." He stopped, taking a shuddering breath. "I have come to see only what I have lost, what is gone from my world. The pain is unbearable, yet somehow I've borne it, believing that I could find a way to bring you home. Cecelia, my darling, darling Cecelia, I no longer know what I've become. I doubt that even your sweet love can forgive all the atrocities I've committed, that you could still love the shadow of the man you married."

His speech was cut off by broken sobs, yet he managed to appear refined and dignified even then, sobbing before his wife's shade. He was something of an enigma, balancing sophisticated intelligence with an eternal, childlike sense of the preposterous. Somehow, he blended the inane with the real so well that the division was invisible.

"I know, Max," she sighed, kneeling in front of him, her blue silk gown pooling around her. "You can't undo the past, but nor are you entirely at fault for your actions. The Millennium Eye was forced on you under false pretenses, and both your strengths and your weaknesses have been taken advantage of. You're not blameless, beloved, but I do forgive you, and you must go **now!**"

………………

Darkness.

A sudden jerk.

A brilliant light blinded the one-eyed man as purposeful movement and antiseptic smells assaulted the rest of his senses. A hospital. He was in a hospital, which meant that he was alive.

__

Damn it, I can't even die properly.


	2. Mom and Dad Wheeler

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Chapter 2 Mom and Dad Wheeler

A/N: I find this chapter somewhat boring, but it is necessary to establish some background detail about Joey's family. I totally revamped Joey's dad turning him into one of the "good guys". Also, even though I tried to portray Joey's mom in a semi-sympathetic light, I do not like the woman, which probably explains why I'm not crazy about this chapter. What kind of mother abandons her kid!?! What kind of mother couldn't love Joey!?! Sorry, but I am a mom and I don't get this woman.

Disclaimer: This story is not intended to infringe on any licensed rights, blah, blah, blah…

…………..

Maria Wheeler had a lot on her mind. For starters, she and Serenity had gotten into several heated arguments over her daughter's desire to stay in Domino with her brother and her new friends, and though Serenity had accused her of being selfish and jealous of her brother and father, Maria still believed she was doing the right thing. There was something strange about the crowd Joey ran with, and Serenity was very delicate. Her daughter would thank her later, she knew, but that didn't make the fighting any less exhausting.

Despite Serenity's vehement protests, though, they were on a plane back to the United States within the week. Even now, sitting beside her despondent daughter, Maria could not understand the girl's attachment to Joey. Of course, Joey had gotten the money to save Serenity's eyesight, but Maria couldn't help but remember the rest of the story behind that blessing. The money had been a gift from Joey's friend, Yugi, and though he seemed nice enough, something about his punk-rock hairdo and penchant for leather had unsettled her from the first moment she had laid eyes on the boy. Then again, perhaps she only disliked the boy because of his friendship with Joseph.

She and Jonathan Wheeler had married for four years when they had decided that it was time to have children. They were very much in love, had a nice home, and maintained a comfortable lifestyle. She enjoyed teaching and Jon was doing well as an assembly supervisor for Toyota. Their lives had been perfect, and a child or two was all they needed to make them complete.

However, after months of trying, the doctor had informed Maria that she would probably never have a child of her own, shattering her beautiful dreams and devastating her totally. She had begun to slip deeper and deeper into depression, and though Jon had been an unfaltering tower of strength for her, she knew that they had been doomed from that point on. Love could not conquer all, regardless of what romance novels had to say on the subject.

It had been Jonathan's idea to adopt a baby, in the hopes that caring for a child would put some sense of meaning back into his wife's vision of her life. Maria, for her part, was reluctant, afraid that an adopted child would rub salt in the wound of her barrenness or, worse, that she would not be able to accept a child to whom she had not given birth. Still, she had agreed, if only to please her husband.

And pleased he had been; the day that they had brought Joseph home had easily been the happiest day of Jon's life. He was the proud new father of a beautiful baby boy, and yet for Maria, the baby meant only sacrifice after sacrifice, and she begrudged each one a little more than the one before. First, Jon had wanted to keep the name Joseph's birth parents had chosen in order to honor the unknown people who had given them the precious gift of a child, dashing her thoughts of a less traditional name. Then, Jonathan asked her to become a full-time mother, and she gave up her teaching career. All this she had done without complaint, and in hindsight, perhaps being a little less spineless would have lightened the nightmare that their marriage eventually became.

Months later, little Joey began to walk, opening up a whole new world of trouble for Maria. Around this time, Jonathan came home from work in an excited frenzy; he had received a promotion that paid more than double his current salary, and Toyota would pay to move them--to Japan.

Maria had been completely horrified, locking herself in the bedroom and crying for days. She couldn't believe how incredibly selfish Jonathan was being in expecting her to leave everything and everyone she had ever known behind, though she eventually gave in to his wishes, as she had always done. It was all she had known up to that point.

For the first few weeks after the move to Domino City, though, Maria was perpetually ill, and an unhappy mother makes for an unhappy toddler. The little fifteen-month-old boy cried nonstop from the time his father left in the morning until Jon came home from work. Once his father was back, little Joey would curl up, finally content, in Jon's lap and fall asleep. Of course, this led to Maria becoming jealous of their bond, as well as their perceived lack of appreciation for all she had given up for the family.

Jon called her illness homesickness, and told her that she needed to make some new friends. He accepted several dinner party invitations on their behalf, and though Maria would get through most of them without any serious trouble, she was sick again as soon as they returned home. Finally, at the end of her proverbial rope, she visited the doctor, only to discover that she was finally pregnant with a child of her own.

There had never been a happier time in her life. All the worry and bitterness bled away; the only thing she could think of was the baby- _her_ baby. After Serenity's birth, Maria came to love her daughter more with every breath the child took, which translated into less and less time spent on Joey. Unfortunately for the adopted boy, though, Jonathan's career began to demand more and more of his time, and so Joseph began to lash out at the world, developing his reputation as a bully while still in kindergarten. Though this sudden shift in the normally peaceful child's behaviour worried Jon, Maria had no time to waste on such things. She was much more concerned with her baby girl, with whom she was convinced something was wrong.

Serenity was six when the doctors diagnosed her with a rare degenerative disease that would eventually lead to blindness, insanity, and brain death. There was no definitive cure, and very little the doctors could do for her but ease the pain when the time came. To protect their children, Jon and Maria said only that there was something wrong with Serenity's eyes, while the overwhelmed parents tried to accept and deal with what fate had handed them.

Fortunately, there was one strand of hope, however slender. A doctor in Tokyo was willing to perform an experimental surgery that had the possibility of saving Serenity, but at an astronomical cost. However distant the goal was, however, the family had something to work toward; Maria searched for any kind of treatment that would buy Serenity time while Jon worked as much overtime as he possibly could, trying to keep up with the medical bills. Meanwhile, the two young siblings bonded, consoling each other as best they could.

Three years later, Maria had found another doctor in the States who thought he could help Serenity, although the Wheelers would have to move back to the U.S. in order for Serenity to be treated. Jonathan, however, was adamant in his refusal to move, and resigned himself to his daughter's fate rather than subscribe to what he saw as 'false hope'. 'There are excellent doctors in Japan who are doing all they can for her,' he had attempted to reason with his wife. 'I don't want to go back to the States, and start all over again for something that might not work out.'.

Maria had heard him out, and then had done the only thing she could do-she took her daughter and left. Joey probably hated her for it; if not for neglecting him, then for taking his sister away.

'Oh well,' she thought, leaning back in her seat, 'either he'll get over it or he won't.'

…………..

"Dad, I'm home!" Joey threw his keys on the coffee table and flopped down on the couch, thoroughly miserable.

Jonathan came out of the kitchen, drying his hands with a dish towel. He sat down next to his son without speaking, fully prepared when Jou sank against him slowly and began to sob. His son had just returned from seeing his mother and sister off at the airport, and though Jon would have liked to tell his daughter good-bye as well, he knew Maria would have had a fit. In fact, Jon hadn't even visited the hospital once during Serenity's stay out of fear of causing problems. He had seen Serenity once she had gotten out of the hospital, though; she wasn't about to be separated from her brother for more than a second if she could help it, and Jon had had the privilege of sharing in the time they had spent at the apartment.

Joey had done his best to stay strong and remain cheerful while he told his little sister good-bye, promising her that he would stay in touch and that he'd see her again soon. He had gotten a job working as a valet at a fancy restaurant a few weeks ago, and though his wages weren't great, the tips were good. It was his father's understanding that he planned to save his money for an airline ticket to New York, and Jou's dedication to his sister despite the rift his mother had tried to open between them was nothing short of admirable.

Unobtrusively, Jonathan put his arm around Jou, drawing him into a gentle embrace. "I'm proud of you, Joey. You have a heart of gold, and the courage to defend what you believe in."

"Ah, Dad, I ain't nothing much." Jou's eyes were still full of tears as he glanced up, and he looked away as soon as he realized this, hiding behind his overlong hair.

Jon chuckled softly. "Son, look at me," he said, brushing the golden curtain from his son's face.

Joey met his dad's eyes, scrubbing roughly at his own. His father continued soothingly, undaunted by his son's raging emotional state. "You were devastated when your mother separated you from Serenity the first time. You rebelled against everyone and everything." The elder man sighed. "It was a rough time for me, too. I wasn't there for you like I should have been; your constant fighting, failing grades, the rough boys you hung out with…and I just let you run. We got into quite some screaming matches."

"Yeah, Dad, I remember." Jou chuckled through his tears; back then, he had never dreamed of having any kind of relationship with his father that didn't involve constant arguing and animosity.

"I was mostly angry with myself. I felt like such a failure, and my world was spinning out of control, but you kept me grounded, Jou. I wouldn't have survived those dark days if it hadn't been for you, because I wouldn't have had a reason to."

"Dad…," Joey sniffed, grabbing a conveniently placed Kleenex box to catch his running nose before it got away.

"No, listen to me, boy. You're smart, and not just street smart. You've got great instincts, and a talent for turning hopeless defeat into great victory. After all, you saved your sister's sight and her life, something that your mother and I were incapable of doing."

"Dad, I think you're talking about Yugi, not me. He was the one who won that money."

"Yeah, Yugi's a good guy, but you give the rest of us the courage and the strength to go on." Jon paused, not wanting this conversation to degenerate into a discussion concerning who was responsible for saving Serenity. "Look, Jou, all I'm trying to say is that if anyone can find a way to turn defeat into victory, it's you. If you don't want to be separated from your sister, then you will find a way to make it so you don't have to be."

Joey smiled, returning his father's hug tenfold. "Thanks, Dad." He glanced at the clock over his father's shoulder, sighing heavily. "I've got to get ready for work."

He started for his room, stopping suddenly to look back at his father, who was still sitting on the couch.

"I love you, Dad." Joey whispered, continuing into his room without waiting for a reply.

"I love you too, son," Jon said, a tear of his own running over his pale, freckled face as he brushed greying red hair from his eyes.


	3. The White Tiger

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Chapter 3 The White Tiger

A/N: I'm attempting to poke a little harmless fun with the name of Jou's apartment building. If you don't get it, review and tell me. I'll be happy to explain in my next update. Also if you plan to continue reading my little story (hmmm…my rough draft is over 40 chapters long and it still isn't finished! Maybe I should have called this 'I Know the End is Out There Somewhere'?) Anyhow, you might want to note how the apartment building is set up-it's important about 3 or 4 chapters down the road.

Disclaimer: I still don't own any licensed rights to Yugioh or anything else. However, I could get a golden retriever puppy and name him Jounouchi. Would that count? Woof!

…………….

Joey gave himself a once over in the restaurant's bathroom mirror immediately after changing into his uniform, finger-combing his hair absently. At seventeen, he was the youngest valet there; originally, Joey had applied for a busboy position, but one look at his emerald-green Harley-Davidson had prompted the manager to request he take a driving test instead. "Valets get better tips, anyway," the elder man had explained.

Jou saw envy in his manager's eyes every time they talked about the bike, which had been a birthday gift from his father. He also noticed the way those same eyes, as green as Jou's motorcycle, roamed over his body, but Jou never let it bother him. The way he saw it, he had beauty, not brains, and if his looks could get him a few perks, it was all good.

The White Tiger was a beautiful restaurant, and this coupled with its astronomical prices made it quite exclusive. The carpets were a deep, rich blue, and a marble fountain in the shape of three roaring white tigers graced the center of the lobby. The dining room was divided into floor and balcony sections, the latter accessible by means of a staircase on either side of the center floor. Each table on the balcony was isolated from the others by privacy screens fashioned from blue silk, and along the walls of the lower level, vines and exotic flowers surrounded pools inhabited by koi, goldfish, and floating flowers.

Joey flashed his typical, friendly grin as he joined his coworkers at the valet station, already desensitized to his opulent surroundings. "Hey, guys! How's it going?"

One of the valets merely gulped in reply, and another just shook his head as the evening supervisor sighed in exasperation.

"Hello, Joey. Don't mind them; they're just a little nervous," Edmund, the supervisor, said in his subordinates' defence.

"Why? What's up?" Joey had never known his co-workers to be anything but cheerful and slightly over-confident.

"We just heard that the new owner made reservations for tonight, so everything needs to be perfect. The man has a reputation of being very..." Edmund paused, searching for a non-derogatory comment, "...intolerant, shall we say?"

Joey smirked at his fellow valets. "So, you guys are scared of the new boss, eh?"

"If you had any brains, Wheeler, you would be too," shot back one of them, but the quiver in his voice stole the derision from his words.

"Hey, nobody's that scary." Even as the words left Jou's mouth, a familiar blood red Mercedes Benz convertible turned into the restaurant drive, and from the way everyone else in the valet booth had just tensed up, it obviously belonged to the new owner. _Oh, this is gonna be fun._

"This one's mine!" he said, ignoring the pallid masks that seemed to have replaced the faces of everyone else in the valet booth.

Jou couldn't resist bounding out of the restaurant like a hyper puppy welcoming his master home. He could only imagine the look on Seto Kaiba's face when he turned over his precious Mercedes to the mutt; it would be priceless, and Jou's only regret was that he didn't have a camera to capture the moment forever.

He had nearly cleared the steps before he decided that dashing up to Kaiba's car with his jacket flapping in the wind and his hair a complete mess might not convey the most professional impression. Ducking behind a polished tiger statue, he used the fun house-like reflection that he cast in the tiger's marble head to fix his attire as best he could without any grooming tools save his trusty comb.

Meanwhile, Kaiba was sitting in his car, impatiently drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. "If this is indicative of the service at large, I'll shut this place down before dessert."

Mokuba sat in the passenger seat, happily playing with the stereo system. "We've barely been here two minutes, big brother. Besides, you should be happy to have some non-constructive downtime."

"Perhaps I would be happy if you shut off that infernal, tinny noise you call music." A gentle tap on the window jarred Kaiba out of his conversation, and he jumped in surprise, banging his head on the roof of the car in the process. Understandably, this did little to improve his surly mood.

"May I park your vehicle, Sir?" Jou asked courteously, the broad smirk plastered across his face doing little to convey the impression of humble restaurant employee.

Mokuba stared in open-mouthed shock as he flicked off the radio absently. "**Joey!**" he cried, bouncing excitedly in his seat. Fortunately for him, his height (or lack thereof) saved him from a fate similar to his brother's.

Jou bowed deeply, still grinning widely. "At your service, young Mr. Kaiba."

Kaiba's general surly mood became focused rage in exactly 1.2 seconds. _Damn the cocky blond for sneaking up on me like this! _His day had consisted of dealing with know-it-all board members who, in reality, knew nothing, which had given him a splitting headache. He had been looking forward to drugging himself with Advil and falling asleep as soon as he arrived home, only to find Mokuba all ready to collect on Seto's promise to take him to the White Tiger. Now, on top of everything, he was going to have to turn his Mercedes over to Joey Wheeler? _No. Fucking. Way._

"I don't allow mutts in my car!" he snapped, a death glare blazing in his eyes. Apparently, his problems with the mutt had not ended with his dropping out from high school. "What are _you_ doing here, anyway?"

Mokuba flinched at his brother's tone, but Joey didn't back down. He had gotten used to Kaiba's harsh treatment long ago, and this was barely even a hissy fit compared to some of their battles.

"I'll be your valet this evening, Mr. Kaiba." he said pleasantly as the young CEO got out of his car, trench coat flaring in the evening breeze

"There is absolutely no way _you_ are touching my car, Wheeler!"

"Come on, Seto," Mokuba pleaded. "We're here to check the place out and have a good time, remember?" He sniffled plaintively. "Every time I try to do something nice with you, it gets ruined..."

Kaiba glanced at his brother, feeling his anger abate temporarily at the sight of the boy's tearing eyes. "All right," he said grudgingly, slapping the keys into Joey's outstretched hand.

Jou smiled. "I'll take good care of it, Kaiba," he said in a smug, triumphant tone.

"Hmph." Mokuba was halfway up the steps when Seto turned back to Jou. "Do you like working here, Wheeler?"

"Yeah, it's great," Joey replied, sliding into the car.

"Good. Enjoy your last night here." Storm clouds gathered in Seto's midnight eyes, darker than the sky above him, as he leaned through the open window of his car. "If there is _any _damage to this vehicle, I will personally take it out of your hide!"

His piece said, Kaiba stalked off, taking his own personal thunderheads with him. In his heart, he knew that firing Jou was just an excuse to get a distraction out of the way. He simply could not be running into to the blond every time he came to inspect the restaurant.

Once Kaiba was safely out of sight, Jou let his head rest against the steering wheel of the Mercedes, groaning softly. He had only taken this job in the first place so that he would have airfare to fly Serenity to Domino and money to rent a beach cabin so that he could fulfill his childhood promise to her. Now, because of that bastard Kaiba, all his dreams were going down the drain. _That stupid jerk... he really has a way with ruining my life._

He parked the car carefully before returning to the valet's station. Edmund, who had begun listening in on the conversation when he had realized that the precarious situation might require several diplomats before it was defused, put a consoling hand on Jou's shoulder. "I tried to warn you, but you left so quickly…"

"What were you going to say? That Kaiba's a jerk? It's a well-known fact. I did have the displeasure of going to school with him." Jou was far too bitter for any kind of pacifying influence to have any effect on him.

"Kaiba Corp owns the White Tiger," Edmund explained softly, far too late for Jou's sake.

"Great. Just great," Jou grumbled. In one day, he had failed a history test, told his sister good-bye, and gotten fired because he couldn't let someone else deal with Kaiba! _Either whatever's up there really has it in for me, or I'm the biggest idiot alive._

Then again, perhaps both ideas were correct.

………….

A few hours later, Joey brought the Mercedes up to the entrance of the White Tiger and watched as the Kaiba brothers descended the stairs, his amber eyes smouldering furiously.

"Everybody practically fell over each other to serve us, big brother!" Mokuba giggled as Joey climbed out of the car, patting the rear-view mirror as he held the driver's side door open. _It's such a beautiful car... and I bet that rich bastard doesn't even appreciate it. What a sin._

"What do you mean, practically? That little blond waitress ended up in your lap when the violinist knocked her over, remember?" Seto reminded his brother, arching one eyebrow. "Honestly, that kind of display makes me wonder how viable a business option this place really is."

"You won't close it down, will you?" Mokuba asked worriedly, speaking more to avoid meeting Joey's hurt gaze. Though he had been powerless to stop Seto, his brother's conduct still shamed him; Jou had definitely done nothing worth being fired over. "I like it here."

Seto appeared to think it over, although Mokuba knew that he had made his decision the moment he had entered the restaurant. "No, Mokuba. We'll give the place a chance, I suppose."

"What about Joey?" the raven-haired boy asked, aware that the soon-to-be-ex-valet was well within earshot. To his credit, Jou had enough presence of mind to pretend not to hear. "Are you still going to fire him?"

Seto turned to face the blond, surprised when he met his most piercing stare head-on. "He seems to be able to handle his job decently," the billionaire admitted grudgingly, running his hand over the car door as he circled Jou. "Perhaps I will keep the puppy on his leash for a while." Smoothly, he slipped a bill into the pocket of Joey's jacket and slid into the driver's seat.

Jou, for his part, was completely dumbstruck. The tip was surprising enough, but to be offered his job back? _The cooks must have slipped something into his food. _"Um... thank you, Kaiba," he said, the words feeling strange on his tongue.

"One mistake, mutt, and you're going back to the dog pound," Kaiba spat out the open window as he slammed the door shut and began to back out of the driveway.

His courage restored, Joey yelled after him, "Hey, what's with the dog insults?"

No reply was offered; even if Kaiba had heard him, Jou later realized, he would never have done something so undignified as yelling out his car window.

………….

As Joey changed back into his street clothes, relief suffused his entire being. Perhaps his day hadn't been a total washout. Before folding his uniform jacket and replacing it back into its bag, he pulled out his tips and leaned against the bathroom sink to count them, as he always did.

His surprise nearly overwhelmed his relief when he noticed a hundred dollar bill at the bottom of the pile, and he immediately knew without a doubt that it was from Kaiba. Who else, after all, would flaunt his money like that?

Pulling on his leather biker jacket, he left through the employees' entrance, tucking the wad of bills safely into the pocket of his jeans.

He was so lost in thought as he walked toward his bike, he didn't even realize that he was being followed until a hand fell on his shoulder. Jou yelped and turned defensively, intending to knock the offending hand away and pummel whoever happened to be attached to it for scaring him.

"Oh man, Tristan! I could've flattened you!" he shouted once he recognized his best friend.

"As if!" Tristan snickered, gesturing to his own bike, parked in the shadows near Jou's. "You feel like a ride?"

"Always!" Joey grinned, throwing an arm around Tristan's shoulders as they walked over to their motorcycles. He knew that his friend missed Serenity just as much as Jou himself did, and felt a pang of guilt for keeping them apart as long as he had. At least when she was with Tristan in Domino, Jou could keep an eye on them; he could not say the same when it came to the boys she had no doubt met on the other side of the Pacific.

They rode aimlessly for a while before finding themselves at Joey's place, located in an older three story building in a pleasant, but not ritzy, part of Domino. The wooden siding was painted white, and black shutters framed the windows. The parking lot was conveniently located in front of the structure, and the walk led up to two mischievous-looking, gold-painted cement elephants guarding the front entrance. Above the entrance was a sign proclaiming the street number of the building and its rather fantastical name-the Sennen Elephant Apartments. Each of the 12 units was comfortably spacious.

After his parents' divorce, Joey and his dad moved from their small house into these apartments. Happy here and content within the mini-community, they saw no point in moving again. For seven years, Jou had called it home, and he hoped that he would do so for some time to come.

"Hey, Tris, why don't you come in for awhile? I got a couple new games I'd like to show you."

Tristan sighed and shrugged. "Sure. It's not like I have anything better to do."

Jou smiled sympathetically. "I miss her, too."

………………

Jou flipped the bedroom lights on as he and Tristan walked in, tossing their helmets and jackets on the unmade bed. The room told an intimate story about the boy who occupied it; haphazardly organized in many ways, it was the room of a typical middle-class teenager who also happened to be caring, happy, and possessed of more depth than many would give him credit for.

The handmade loft bed had been Joey's finals project for his woodworking class a year before. Underneath the bed was a dresser with clothes hanging out of every drawer; beside that, a clothes hamper overflowed with laundry. The closet door was jammed half open, revealing a jumbled mess of empty hangers and fallen garments.

In one corner sat a small computer desk made of black metal. The computer itself was a few years old; Joey and his dad built it, component by component, and it worked great. Above the desk hung an incredibly detailed painting of a Red Eyes Black Dragon lunging in attack. The painting had gotten second place at Domino High's art fair, and the artist was none other than Jou himself. A few framed pictures graced the top shelf; a recent one of Serenity, after her eye surgery; one of Serenity and Joey when they were little kids; one of Tristan and Jou with their bikes on Jou's birthday in January, and one of the 'gang'-Yugi, Tristan, Tea, and Jou.

On the other side of the room was Joey's entertainment center, which was valiantly attempting to contain a variety of components the technology industry sought to bedevil young minds with. At the very center of the room was a free-standing punching bag with a picture of Seto Kaiba's face taped to it.

"So, Jou, you think you'll ever beat him in real life?" Tristan asked, cocking a thumb at the latter item.

Jou held up the $100 bill in reply. "You'll never guess who gave me this," he snickered before telling his friend about his night at work.


	4. Island of the Winged Horse

****

Chapter 4 Island of the Winged Horse

A/N: I wrote a one-shot story called 'Yours to Command' that gives a little more background information about the relationship between Pegasus and Croquet. It is a kind of prequel to 'I Know You're Out There Somewhere' for anyone who may be interested.

Disclaimer: No, I don't even own Croquet…I think maybe Pegasus does though!

To the reviewers:

Kamori Sakusha: Thanks for letting me know how much you've enjoyed my story. I hope to have a new update on aff soon.

Fanficlunatic234: Thanks! It evolves slowly, but on the upside I should be able to update fairly fast since I just have a little editing to do on the chapters.

Firevega21: It took me a while to come up with the name for Jou's apartment building. I'm glad you liked it.

………….

"How long _was_ I in the Shadow Realm?" Pegasus asked Croquet for the fifth time within an hour.

"A year, sir." Croquet answered, his patience wearing thin.

"A year. It seemed like only moments." The silver-haired gentleman mused.

"The perception of how time passes tends to be greatly distorted, depending on one's point of view." Croquet dryly responded.

"Whatever do you mean, Croquet?"

"A moment to you seemed like an eternity to me." Croquet translated.

Pegasus chuckled. "No one chained you to my beside, Christopher."

"Hmph." Croquet should have felt unappreciated, but seldom took Pegasus' remarks personally. Besides the man did have a point. No one made Croquet pull 16-hour shifts seven days a week more or less for a year. He just hadn't had to be anywhere else at the time.

They were flying home to Duelist Kingdom on _Illusionary Airs, _Pegasus'small private jet. Pegasus spent another two weeks in the hospital after he had recovered from his 'coma' or returned to his soulless body after an extended vacation in the Shadow Realm. He had divided the remainder of his hospital stay between physical therapy, checking up on Industrial Illusions, and helping Croquet complete the numerous unfinished crossword puzzles the bodyguard accumulated while being 'chained' to Pegasus' bedside.

It kept him occupied somewhat. The last thing Pegasus remembered after his fateful duel with Yugi was releasing the souls of Yugi's grandfather and the Kaiba brothers. There seemed to be someone giving him a bizarre sort of Tarot reading using duel monster cards in there somewhere, but he could remember nothing about the forceful seizure of the Millennium Eye, just intense mind-crippling pain. He didn't really care to remember the thief's identity and for some inexplicable reason, he believed he might be better off without the magical item.

As the jet closed the distance to the Duelist Kingdom landing strip, Pegasus wondered to himself again how he could have been in the Shadow Realm for a year and remember next to nothing. What he did remember made very little sense. His beautiful lady was in his arms trying to warn him against allowing his soul to remain trapped and pleading with him to return to this plane of existence as if it were their only chance at being reunited. He spent seventeen years of his life trying to resurrect his beloved bride and when he finally thought he had the perfect plan it backfired miserably. But now the most pressing mystery on his mind why in blazes was Cecelia in the Shadow Realm?

"Sir? We've arrived." Croquet announced, breaking in on Pegasus' pensive thoughts.

…………..

Later that night, Pegasus tossed and turned in his bed caught up in a nightmare.

He sensed rather than saw the labyrinth around him. A disembodied, yet familiar voice filled the darkness with sound.

"You failed her, Pegasus. Your purpose has been served. You failed her, but you didn't fail me. You've been a good servant to the Shadow Realm and you are to be rewarded. You must run now, Pegasus. Run and never stop."

At the feet of the moonsilver haired man a path appeared of brimstone and fire. The savage red light made shadows in the darkness, forbidding and concealing. Pegasus could sense monsters and souls driven insane with pain. He did not move, could not move, incomprehensively frozen in place as heat penetrated the soles of his boots. It was not fear, but rather a need to understand what was happening to him that caused his disobedience.

This place was like the labyrinth of tunnels he had mapped and charted below the surface of his island home. Yet he suspected a plot was to be played out here that was far more sinister than eliminating duelists. He had questions to ask of the disembodied voice but his own seemed to have forsaken him.

"You may only stop when you find the one you seek. If you pause or hesitate, even for the space of a breath, her soul will be destroyed. I will teach you the meaning of despair, little mortal. _Run!_"

Pegasus gingerly placed one white boot on the path and immediately felt as though he were engulfed in the fires of Hell. He had always been better at giving orders than taking them, but moved into a leisurely jog nonetheless.

Moments later, he caught sight of spun gold hair and a bit of a blue silk gown trimmed in lace. Cecelia? He sprinted in the general direction of his personal Venus when branch-like hands tore at his hair and attempted to snare his feet. Piercing victory shrieks filled the air as he fought against his unseen assailants. He stumbled and started to fall…

…………

Waking, Pegasus sat bolt upright in his bed, cold sweat drenching his pajamas. Shakily, he made his way into his bathroom and relieved his stomach of its contents. Only Croquet knew about the terrors that haunted Pegasus in his sleep. His faithful bodyguard had managed to see to it that the hospital staff remained oblivious. He had not wanted to spend one more day than absolutely necessary in the sterile atmosphere.

"Sir?"

"Did I call you?" Pegasus snapped at the very man he had just been thinking of.

"No, sir." Croquet answered blandly. Instead of leaving Pegasus on the marble floor of his bathroom, which was apparently what the silver-haired man desired, Croquet reached out to help his boss to his feet.

Pegasus staggered a little, still weak and uncoordinated from his long hospital stay, he leaned into the iron strength of his bodyguard and allowed Croquet to guide him to a leather upholstered wing chair in the sitting area of his bedroom. Croquet scooped up a blanket from the tangled pile on the floor and draped it over his boss.

It would be a long night. Croquet sat in the wing chair next to Pegasus, saying nothing. Either his master would talk to him or not depending on his whim. It would do no good to coax him. Croquet made an art of waiting and watching. Over thirty-some odd years they had fallen into a rhythm that shaped their lives. Friends from childhood in a strangely formal yet familiar way, both were completely comfortable with the relationship that neither of them questioned.

"Shadi…find him. Bring him to the castle." Pegasus ordered.

"Yes, sir." Croquet rose and left.

…………

Cecelia wandered through her pocket of Shadow space. It was a mental recreation of the English woods on her parent's estate where she had grown up. As a child she had frequented this clearing she always thought of as her own private fairyland. As a blossoming young woman she lured her first lover to this secluded place, promising with her body then a union that later would be symbolized by a gold wedding ring.

She was lost to the Shadow Realm with no physical body to return to the life she loved. Cecelia was brutally aware of not only her circumstances, but those of her beloved's as well. Not even death could sever her bond to her beautiful silver blond husband. She may have been trapped in this other dimension but she still felt drawn to her two earthbound loves. When she reached out to Maximillion she felt his essential spirit, a magnetic charisma tainted by grief. As for their son, Cecelia sensed little more than a charming warmth that reminded her of sunshine.

Her death had only been the beginning of the devastation wrought on Max's life. It had merely been the first move in this particular round in an eternal game of Shadow and Light. There were forces in motion that would join the two into a single reality. In ancient times, a young but powerful pharaoh had stepped into the path of evil and held it at bay. In modern times, another young and powerful man had been set, like an angel unaware, to unleash that same evil.

………………

Croquet returned after a few moments to his master's chambers. "Shadi will be here momentarily." He announced, even as a spinning white vortex appeared in Pegasus' bedroom floor. Uncharacteristically, Croquet yelped in dismay as he felt the solid oak flooring dissolve underfoot.

"Travel by Shadow Realm, Shadi? How quaintly old-fashioned." Pegasus quipped, unalarmed.

Croquet bowed slightly to his master's guest, his eyes never leaving Pegasus, thinking to him and yet knowing Pegasus had lost the highly-tuned perceptions the Millennium Eye had afforded him-_I despise magic. I despise that Egyptian. There's something off about him, Max. I'm leaving. But I'll be within earshot._

Pegasus smirked at Croquet knowing he was ranting and raving about magic again without actually knowing the details of Croquet's thoughts. "Perhaps you should have chosen a different employer, Croquet?" he teased.

"Whatever do you mean, Master Pegasus?" Croquet asked innocently.

"Nothing at all, Croquet. I'll call if require anything."

Although Croquet left reluctantly, he remained very much in the thoughts of his employer. The silver-haired illusionist knew very well the burden of guilt Croquet carried for his brief years of absence from Pegasus' side. First, Croquet spent four years in the military, on every leave returning to the island to visit his father who was still employed there as a master gardener and then later for nearly two more years shortly after Max's wedding. The first of the two years had been bliss, but that had nothing to do with Croquet's sudden decision to leave and everything to do with his bride. Of course, his bride had everything to do with Croquet leaving, but that was another story.

The second year had been hell and Pegasus would no sooner allow Croquet another resignation than he would allow his other eye to be cut out. Filled with grief and torment, Pegasus had never fully recovered from his pain and loss. Croquet's own brief marriage terminated in divorce when his wife had foolishly given him the ultimatum of choosing between her and Maximillion. Only Cecelia had ever come between them and obviously Croquet's wife was no Cecelia.

Pegasus knew he owed Croquet a debt that even he could not repay. He wouldn't have survived the tragic loss of his family or the transitional time of learning to deal with the Millennium Eye without his friend at his side. True, Shadi had been a guide and mentor and Pegasus also considered him to be a friend. But Pegasus had depended on Croquet to be there for him since they were both children. Croquet was his shield, not just as a physical protector, but mentally and emotionally as well. His pragmatism balanced out Pegasus' lunacy and his mind was a lead curtain that shut out a great deal of psychic garbage people unknowingly threw out. Croquet was his security blanket, not just his chief of security. _Oh, if only he knew_…Pegasus smirked to himself.

Shadi gazed at the door the bodyguard had made his exit through for a moment longer than necessary, knowing how easily all their destinies could have changed had Croquet not left Pegasus during that critical time. Shadi alone understood that Croquet's sense of guilt had a firm basis in reality. It was quite possible that Croquet could have prevented Cecelia's death and thus Pegasus' brief but tragic descent into madness.

"Please, Shadi, come sit with me." Pegasus invited, indicating the second of the two wing chairs. Shadi had always been someone who was willing to help him try to heal his pain and had shown him many wondrous mysteries. He explained to Shadi why he had sent for him and Shadi listened thoughtfully.

"The Eye was taken by force, Master Pegasus. I felt the disruption in the mystic alignment when the theft occurred. I came here to catch the thief, but did not find him. I had hoped that were you strong enough to survive the removal of the Millennium Eye, you would be able to identify the thief. But such does not seem to be the case. It is certain that this person is the keeper of a Millennium item, for only someone with great mastery of Shadow magic could send you to the Shadow Realm and block your memories. That same magic may have extended to your memories of the Shadow Realm as well. You are sufficiently gifted and experienced with the power of the Shadow Realm not to be overwhelmed by it. Your memories are merely blocked, Maximillion, they are still there."

"Would you be kind enough to help me regain them?" Pegasus asked, even though sleepiness was fast becoming an irresistible force.

"I could," Shadi answered carefully, "But I do not believe it would be wise to do so. Tell me all that you remember of your dreams and we shall see."

Once again, Shadi listened closely, and then he used the Millennium Key to enter Pegasus' mind for a moment before retreating. Shadi stood to leave; the white vortex appeared at his feet and slowly sucked him down into it. "Forgive me, there are other matters to which I must attend." And with that he vanished.

Pegasus raised an eyebrow, 'How odd…'


	5. Work and Play Don't Mix

****

Chapter 5 Work and Play Don't Mix

Warning: this chapter contains lemonishness. Joey/OC pairing. Mild swearing and a ticked off Kaiba Corp executive.

Thanks to my reviewers. I appreciate all of your support and while I probably won't take the time to respond to each of you individually with every chapter update, I comment from time to time.

Disclaimer: Every chapter has to have one of these? This gets old fast. And no, I don't own Yugioh. This fic is purely for entertainment purposes, not to make money.

………….

One week later.

It was Friday evening and Jou was finishing up his shift at the end of the night. Because of school, he could only work at the White Tiger on Fridays and Saturdays. He liked his job but it did interfere with how much time he got to spend hanging out with his friends. Tonight he had plans to pick up Yugi from the Turtle Game Shop. Yug was going to stay overnight with him, ostensibly so they could hit the books first thing in the morning and meet up with Tristan and Tea later on. _Homework…yeah, right…_Joey thought to himself as he noticed Mr. Bronson, the green-eyed and rather good-looking restaurant manager, standing in the doorway of his office.

"Mr. Wheeler, please come in." Bronson invited the fair-haired youth.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Jou asked tentatively as he entered the man's office. He'd been in here before for his employment interview. An aquarium of brightly colored saltwater fish was set into the wall behind Bronson's desk and above it was a photographic portrait of Bronson's handsome brood of five children who all looked to be under the age of ten.

"No, Joey, in fact your performance on the job is quite exemplary." Bronson fidgeted with his tie, loosening it as though it had suddenly become far too tight. Jou noticed the abrupt switch to his first name as well. He wasn't really the idiot certain people claimed he was and he had a pretty good idea where this little meeting was headed. Bronson had watched him with lust in eyes from the moment they'd met.

The restaurant manager went to the back of the office and slid aside a panel of the false wall. He waved Joey into the next room, which turned out to be an ordinary conference room with a long table in the middle of it.

"So what's this about then?" Joey asked, feigning innocence and covertly checking out the solidly built man.

"The hours you work must get in the way of being able to go out on dates. It must irritate your girlfriend." Bronson started slowly, trying to gauge the blond teenager's reaction. The man cleared his throat and opened the top button of his shirt as he tried to maintain his composure.

Jou knew immediately that Bronson was not in the habit of seducing young male employees after hours and decided to have a bit of fun with the older man. He bit his bottom lip (to keep from smirking) and backed into the conference table (so he could relax while he enjoyed the show), but to Bronson it looked as if the teen was uncertain, perhaps even a little frightened.

"Who…who said I date girls?" Jou asked, stammering a bit to add to the illusion of vulnerability.

Bronson's eyes widened at that and became more openly lustful. He pulled off his white suit jacket and laid it on one of the chairs as he advanced on the blond. "Maybe you have a boyfriend?" The manager asked, laying a finger on Jou's full lips and tracing them softly.

"Maybe." Jou answered and roughly yanked the man by his tie into a mind-blowing open mouth kiss. Releasing the spellbound manager, Jou asked, "Does it matter?"

"You've done this before." Bronson gasped.

"Not with you." Jou shrugged.

Bronson grinned. This boy was wonderful, yummy, and such a little tease. Oh, the fun they could have together. He leaned into Jou for another kiss and was not disappointed when he felt Jou's hands slide expertly down his body below his belt line to cup the stiffened flesh longing for attention, even as Jou moved to nibble at the skin of the manager's neck with his teeth and lips.

"Oh…oh, you're good…" The manager moaned.

"I haven't even gotten warmed up." Jou whispered in his ear.

He pushed Bronson away just enough to be able to kneel in front of him and using his mouth went to work on the manager's belt. Once that was taken care of, Jou swiftly undid the man's trousers.

"Ummm…Jou, you had a fine teacher…" Bronson moaned.

To this Joey had no response. He had his mouth rather full at the moment, while his brain occupied itself with memories.

Sex was sweet; it was an easy escape to which he could surrender completely. This major discovery made itself known to Jou at the tender age of fourteen. He'd managed to keep his orientation reasonably private, though he assumed his father knew, in spite of the fact that they had never talked about it. He had told Tristan because he needed someone to confide in and Tristan knew how to keep his mouth shut when it really mattered. He didn't have those kinds of feelings for Tristan, even a gay guy needed male friends he could trust and depend on, and it was a good thing too because Tris was as straight as they came. The boys had first met in elementary school and bonded like long lost brothers. They had run with a rough crowd, always watching each other's backs. Tristan had an irritating habit of being a little too protective of him, but eventually Jou learned to overlook this dubious flaw.

When Jou was fourteen he earned a little extra spending money by running errands for a nineteen-year-old agoraphobic neighbor. His name was Roger and he couldn't leave his apartment without having a full-blown anxiety attack. His therapist made house calls once a week. She had seen Jou in the hallways a few times and talked Jou's dad into letting him run errands for Roger. The therapist thought Roger needed a friend to help draw him out of his shell, a living human being and not a cyber buddy from a chat room. Roger made his living as a freelance writer over the Internet, which only gave him an excuse to become more isolated. To the therapist the energetic, friendly blond boy seemed to be a ray of hope.

As it turned out, Roger was the one to draw Jou out as he fell in love for the first time with the gentle, lithe young man who was incapable of hurting anyone but himself. A few months after the two became lovers, Roger killed himself with an overdose.

Unfortunately, it was Joey who found the body of his dead lover, and it sent the blond boy on his own path of self-destruction. He built himself quite a reputation as a street punk running with his school's most feared gang and a boy whore to a select few, a classification which was composed mainly of his father's business associates.

Tristan alone had been able to keep Joey grounded at all. The love he'd lost when his mother abandoned him and deprived him of his sister was replaced by the tenderness he found in Roger's arms. It was in those terrible days after Roger's suicide that Jou found himself confiding in Tristan. Later, Jou found another sweet innocent with Roger's soulful gentle eyes in a boy named Yugi whom Joey first bullied and then came to respect. Their friendship healed the torn spaces in Joey's soul.

Joey was brought back to the present by the manager's increasing moans and body tension in time to prepare for the man's climax. Out of the corner of his eye, Jou caught movement at the open panel and he found himself looking into twin chips of diamond-hard, sapphire-colored eyes.

"Shit!" Jou fell on his butt and scrambled away from the dazed and confused restaurant manager who ended up coming all over the space where Jou had been.

"Huh?" Bronson looked around to find a certain enraged CEO come striding toward him.

"You…you baka! I don't ever want to see you again! You're terminated! Get out of my sight!" Kaiba raised his voice only a single octave, but it was chilling in its coldness. "You will never work in Domino again!"

Bronson made a run for it. Jou, on the other hand, was trying to hide under the conference table. He wasn't a coward, but this was _Kaiba_ after all, and Jou knew from experience that confrontations with Kaiba did not usually end well for him.

"Wheeler. Get out here. Quit acting like a sniveling dog." Kaiba commanded.

Joey wanted to obey, but he couldn't. He was simply too embarrassed to move. The next thing he knew the long conference table was crashing on its side and his shield from the dragon master was gone.

"Uh…hi, Kaiba. Whatcha doing here?" Joey smiled weakly.

"You filthy, disgusting excuse of a bitch in heat…" the classic glare was combined with the classic arms crossed over the chest stance. Kaiba kept his voice low, but it carried the promise of a tidal storm. "Look at me, Mutt!"

"I AM NOT A MUTT!" Joey roared.

"You are if I say you are." Kaiba snapped. "You certainly don't have enough dignity to be a man. What the hell were you doing?"

"I'm surprised a genius like you can't figure that one out!" Jou countered. He got to his feet. His face was bright red from a combination of anger and embarrassment. "But then again, you're so fricking frigid, I'll bet you've never been laid! If it weren't for your money nobody in their right mind would want you!"

He pushed past Kaiba quickly, turning back only long enough to say, "Don't worry about firing me, Kaiba. I quit!" before he stormed out of the office. That moment was long enough for Jou to register the hurt and shock in those depthless blue eyes.

'Well, Mr. Frigid CEO, you may know one of my secrets, but I know one of yours as well…' Jou thought derisively as he sprinted to his beloved motorcycle and throttled it into a resounding roar of defiance as he rocketed off into the night.


	6. Dragon Tales

****

Chapter 6 Dragon Tales

Disclaimer: Yes, yes, the winged pony is mine, all mine! Only mine! Outta my way Cecelia! Oh… wait a minute, he's not mine? (Runs to a corner sobbing…) No, I don't own it.

Inside the restaurant, Seto Kaiba died a little more inside. He had come to the White Tiger to pick up some paperwork. He could have had an employee handle it for him, but he wanted to check things out himself. It wasn't like he slept anyway.

He got the papers, set the alarm, and locked up after the sound of the motorcycle died away. Seto sat behind the wheel of his pretty Mercedes shaking. His eyes glazed over with tears and his stomach rebelled against its contents.

He watched Jou with Bronson for quite a while before he had moved to shift his trench coat over his own rather obvious arousal, thus giving himself away. He'd seen enough to know that Jou's actions were consensual, that he was willing to please the older man. Seto had always thought Jou was straight. His interest in the blond made him acutely aware of Mai Valentine's advances toward him. Joey always seemed a little flustered by the foxy lady, but it was obvious he liked her as well. Seto distanced himself from Jou as much as he could believing it an impossible situation going as far as belittling him at every opportunity with his rather acidic tongue. His sense of loss was tremendous; it hurt to learn the truth in such a vividly graphic manner and coupled with Jou's unwittingly accurate words, Seto felt like his soul had been cut through with a double-edged sword.

Seto's scars were buried in his mind, heart, and soul. They were scars no one would ever see. He swore to himself that he would never be vulnerable again after he pushed that bakayaru out the window and into his grave. He had Mokuba and that was enough, no one else would ever touch his heart. And then it happened, much too soon and when he was the least prepared for it, a golden-haired mutt with huge puppy eyes and an attitude that could rock the world crossed his path and threatened to melt the cold CEO into a puddle of unsightly goo on the spot.

Seto's first instinct was to cut Joey down, purely in self-defense to cover up his fear of being vulnerable and therefore utterly destroyed. So, of course, he had to destroy the threat to his control instead. Seto attacked the blond boy he was inexplicably drawn to in a vain attempt to drive the boy out of his own traitorous heart.

All he managed to accomplish in the process was the creation of his own misery and to ensure that Jou hated him. Seto sat there in one of the finest sports cars money can buy with the world at his fingertips, heartbroken and haunted, trying to regain some semblance of control.

A conversation with his little brother from the previous week came back to him. They were at the White Tiger and they had been seated at the best table in the house. Mokuba was unusually quiet.

"What's wrong?" Seto asked.

Mokuba hesitated before he answered. "Seto, you know Joey and those guys really want to be your friends. I know you have to be careful because of your position and all, but I don't think running a company means you aren't allowed to have friends. Those guys wouldn't take advantage of you. Even if you don't want their friendship you could try to be a little nicer to them."

Automatically Seto became defensive. "I'm not concerned about being taken advantage of. Mokuba, we came here to enjoy ourselves. You always tell me that we never go anywhere. Let's drop it, okay?"

'After all who needs friends when you have power?' Seto thought to himself.

He knew he hurt Mokuba's feelings, but his brother recovered quickly enough. Pulling himself out of introspection and back into the present, Seto came to a sudden decision. He started his car and proceeded to follow a certain blond home.

As he drove unbidden memories of his past continued to taunt him. He'd been eight and Mokuba only three when they had been forced into the orphanage. Their mother died giving birth to Mokuba and three years later their father died in a car accident. Their family hadn't been poor, only very nearly so. Seto's mother stayed home with him and his father worked two jobs. Seto had never experienced friendship. He started school a year early. By the time he was three he was reading junior high level books and mathematics were already a passion. His mother taught him to play the piano and by the time he was five he had surpassed her skills.

But because he was a child prodigy and his parents couldn't afford a private school, he was an outcast among his peers. At an early age, Seto started to pretend that others weren't rejecting him, but rather that he was too good to associate with his mental inferiors. It was easier than feeling the pain of loneliness and before long the attitude became a part of who he was.

And then there was his baby brother to think of. Seto was the only family Mokuba had ever known. The orphanage both reinforced the bond between the brothers and increased Seto's feelings of alienation.

A couple of years later, Gozaburo Kaiba came to the orphanage to seek a protégé and heir. He chose Seto not only for his brains and brashness in challenging the chess master to a game on which Seto gambled Mokuba's fate, but also because Seto looked very much like the son Gozaburo lost.

For the first few months after the adoption the brothers were truly happy. But even the most wonderful fairy tale has a dark and scary side. Gozaburo played on Seto's glaring weakness-his little brother. Gozaburo was cold and demanding with Seto, but gentle and playful with Mokuba. Seto was given a harshly rigid regimen, pushing both his mental and physical limits far beyond what anyone, let alone a ten-year-old boy, should have to endure.

Not that Gozaburo ever laid a hand on Seto. Quite the opposite, Gozaburo avoided touching Seto like the boy was plague-ridden. He made certain Seto witnessed the playful tickling and teasing sessions Gozaburo indulged Mokuba in, often carrying the small boy high on his shoulders and tucking him gently into bed.

Gozaburo succeeded to a degree in making Seto into a cold, hardheaded, ruthless, and unfeeling person. Mokuba alone kept the CEO from being as heartless as most people believed him to be.

The tides changed shortly before Seto's fifteenth birthday. Gozaburo broke Mokuba's innocent heart. He started the same regimen with Mokuba that he had with Seto. Overnight Gozaburo turned from a loving father to the younger boy into the boogeyman telling Mokuba he never loved him and that he wasn't worthy of the Kaiba name. As if the mocking taunts weren't bad enough, one day Gozaburo struck the child hard enough to knock him senseless.

Gozaburo was unaware of the cerulean eyes that bore witness to this crime. Perhaps he would not have cared. Old Man Kaiba fatally underestimated his older adopted son. All of Seto's repressed rage plus his hard physical martial arts training gave him unnatural speed and strength as he flew at the cruel man.

Seto watched the glass window shatter, watched the shock register on Gozaburo's face as he realized he was falling to his death. Seto felt nothing at all. Even in his haunted dreams numbness fell over him like snow.

The coroner ruled the death an apparent suicide. Seto faced a rigorous battery of psychological tests to determine if he could legally be declared an adult. The testing was nothing. Seto had become so well schooled in controlling both his body and mind little could phase him. He was officially given custody of Mokuba and became the CEO of Kaiba Corp. To Seto's irritation and annoyance, one stipulation came with his adult status. He had to attend public high school until he turned eighteen.

It rubbed salt in the wound of his isolation to watch kids his age be carefree, friendly, and totally oblivious to the cruel caprice of life. He complied with the stipulation until the day of his eighteenth birthday and withdrew from school. All of the course work was completed. In his spare time between raising a kid brother, dueling, and running a major corporation, Seto worked on his master's degree in business. He had no social life and little need of sleep. When he did sleep he wanted to be too exhausted to dream. When he was awake he wanted to be too busy to feel. He repressed every natural instinct he had for human contact and the only exception to the rule was Mokuba.

On that very first day at Domino High, Seto saw the beautiful high-spirited puppy that made his shattered child's heart want to play and cuddle and be what he'd never been allowed to be. Seto denied himself the longing with cruelty and coldness.

Seto came out of his circular thoughts briefly when he arrived on the street where Jou lived. He parked on a cross street where he could see the Sennen Elephant Apartments easily and yet not be seen by a casual observer. Joey's Harley wasn't in the parking lot. Maybe he'd crashed somewhere else for the night? Maybe he was just riding around? Seto decided to wait.

The image of Jou kneeling before him, touching him, caressing him with his pretty mouth superimposed itself over what Seto had actually seen and he was lost to the fantasy arcing into the imaginary touch of his dream lover.

He was snapped out of his fantasy by the sound of a motorcycle. Jou was home, but he wasn't alone. The smaller form behind him slipped off the bike first, pulled off the helmet, and revealed the unmistakable head of hair that could only belong to Yugi Moutu.

Seto groaned. He finally decided to reach out to Jou to see if there was any chance they could put their differences aside. Even if they couldn't be friends, maybe they would no longer be enemies. Seto wanted to call a truce and _his_ Jou-pup just had to go and drag Yugi home. Seto felt his willpower disintegrate into jealousy of the closeness the two teens shared so casually.

He sat there watching them in a frustration that was very nearly a physical pain while the two boys entered the apartment building. The only thing that would have made this night worse was if the weather had continued to pour the deluge of flood-like rains out on the city of Domino as it had for the past week. And yet for Seto a rain did pour inside his soul, too deep for anyone to see him weep.


	7. House of Cards

****

Chapter 7 House of Cards

A/N: The title of this chapter has nothing to do with Duel Monsters. This is where things start to get interesting….

Disclaimer: All I own is an overactive imagination.

And a big thank you to all my reviewers!

……….

Joey left the White Tiger in a rage. He circled around the city park once trying to cool down before he went to the Turtle Game Shop to pick up Yugi. At least he didn't have to worry about cutting his time with his friend short tomorrow since he no longer had a job to go to.

Yugi met him at the front of the shop, cheerful as always, though he had to stifle a yawn. Joey couldn't help but grin. "Hey, I'm not keeping you from your beauty sleep now am I?" he teased.

" 'Course not." Yugi grabbed the extra helmet Jou held out to him and pulled it on. He quickly adjusted the straps of his backpack and got on the bike behind Joey.

When they arrived at the Sennen Elephant Apartments both boys failed to notice the blood red Mercedes parked down the side street as they entered the building. Joey led the way to his apartment and unlocked the door.

They had time to step across the threshold, register the familiar sounds of dishes being returned to their places in the cupboard and Jonathan Wheeler's low singing voice before a sudden _whoosh_ sucked the air out of their lungs. Everything went black as glass exploded outwards from the window frames. The apartment building trembled as if it were a house of cards caught in a gentle breeze and a roaring, deafening blast shut out all other sensations.

………….

Out on the dark street, Seto was sulking, lost in thought. Maybe it was better to leave well enough alone when it came to the mutt. He had really wanted to put the animosity between them aside tonight before the situation got any worse. It was a small step, but a crucial one.

****

KABOOM!

Kaiba looked at the apartment building in horror as glass flew in all directions and the doors to the entrance were blown out into the parking lot. Immediately hungry flames followed.

He found his cell phone deep in the pocket of his trench coat. He punched in 911 without looking, snapped the address and the nature of the emergency at the answering dispatcher, pocketed the phone and got out of his car in a few fluidly efficient movements.

The first floor of the building was almost entirely engulfed in flame. There was no way to enter from ground level. Kaiba reached for his cell phone again.

"Kaiba Corp." A clipped voice responded.

"This is Kaiba. If you value your job will have two helicopters at 1700 Willow St. in under three minutes." He disconnected before his employee could reply.

Kaiba moved in long graceful strides to the parking lot. If the fire weren't contained quickly the parked cars would also catch fire creating the possibility of many smaller explosions to follow. With that in mind, Kaiba went to the emerald green Harley, held in the clutch and rolled it back to his Mercedes. When Joey got out of this at least he would still have his bike, small comfort though it might be. Rescue vehicles were starting to arrive on the scene accompanied by flashing lights and sirens. Curious bystanders and a news crew had already gathered at the scene. Kaiba had vainly hoped his presence here would go unnoticed. Regardless, he wasn't leaving until his puppy was out of that inferno.

………..

"Dad!" Joey screamed. He had been knocked flat by the blast and had fallen on top of Yugi, squashing the smaller boy. Jou rolled and gathered his friend up.

"Joey, I'm okay. Is Yugi?" His dad asked as he came crawling out of the murky darkness toward the two boys.

"Yug?" Jou's eyes were watering and stinging from smoke.

"Uh…what happened?" questioned the dazed boy.

"I'm not sure, but we gotta get out of here, okay?" Jou answered him and helped him to his feet.

A scream echoed through the darkness followed by confused and frightened voices overlapping each other.

"No! No!"

"I can't see!"

"How are we going to get out?"

"This can't be happening!"

"Was it a bomb?"

"Mama, I'm scared."

"We can't go down. The first floor is on fire!"

"Come on." Jonathan said to the boys and made his way to the frantic voices.

A small boy clung to his mother's nightgown, sucking his thumb and clutching a battered puppy plushie in the crook of his arm. The woman held an even younger girl sobbing in her arms. Jon scooped the little boy up and handed him to Joey. "We'll go to the roof." Jon said calmly. "There will be firefighters and paramedics here any minute. They'll get us to safety."

No one argued with the reassurance Jonathan Wheeler offered them. "Jou, I want you and Yugi to lead them out of here. I'm going to make sure no one gets left behind. I'll be right behind you." Jon squeezed his son's shoulder gently.

"…Okay…Dad, be careful."

Jon smiled and nodded as he went to round everyone up, but Joey had a terrible gut feeling that he would never see his father again.

…………

In his soul room, Yami was in a near panic. He felt and saw everything Yugi did; Yugi's memories of being trapped in another fire unable to free the Millennium Puzzle increased his anxiety. Yugi ended up facing a mind controlled Bandit Keith alone, separated from his Yami. The old shed caught fire when Bandit Keith struggled against Marik's power. Yugi's terror at the possibility of losing Yami then reflected the pharaoh's fears of losing his light now.

He was frustrated by his inability to act. During his entire existence, Yami had been trapped in one way or another. Trapped as the ruler of Egypt in life unable to do as he pleased and trapped in the Millennium Puzzle as a spirit without a means of interacting in the physical world on his own.

Many of his memories had been restored, but for some things one still had to rely on instinct. Yami's instincts told him to get Yugi safely out of the building immediately. The danger was obvious, and yet Yami sensed it was greater than what those around him believed it to be. Yugi had to survive this Yami did not. He'd already been dead for five thousand years, but his hikari was young and had so much good to give the world. Yet Yami felt helpless, trapped in his stupid golden cage.

………..

Tristan and Tea sat on the steps in front of her house talking. They had gone to a burger joint earlier in the evening and then to a school dance. Tristan seldom hung out just with Tea. The last time had been on the cruise ship to Duelist Kingdom as stowaways. He was still heartbroken over Serenity. Yugi was keeping the game shop open until 9 p.m. and Joey was working at the restaurant. So he asked Tea if she wanted spend some time with him tonight. It had been her idea to go to the dance.

Tea was a good listener and she was definitely easier to talk to about Serenity than Joey was. It was kind of nice to get a girl's perspective on the situation. He hadn't expected to still on Tea's porch steps at going on 1 a.m.

"Holy crap…!" Tristan exclaimed scaring poor Tea with the sudden outburst. "Sorry, Tea. I didn't realize how late it was. I gotta go. My parents are gonna kill me!"

"Okay, Tristan. Hey, it is really late, isn't it? I really enjoyed tonight. If you ever need to talk…" A thunderous explosion in the distance cut off her words. The two teens stared at each other wide-eyed.

"That sounded like it came from…"

"Over where Joey lives." Tea finished Tristan's spoken thought.

"Come on, let's check it out!" Tristan ran for his bike with Tea on his heels.

A few minutes later they came upon a scene neither would have imagined in their worst nightmares. Amid the chaos of flashing lights and blaring sirens, Joey's apartment building was going up in flames.

"Joey!" Tristan screamed and started to and shoulders his way through the growing crowd.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tristan was jerked around hard by a vice-like grip on his shoulder.

"Damn you, Kaiba. Joey lives here."

"I know, but you're not going to help him by getting in the way." As if that settled the matter the CEO strode away.

"Why you…!"

"You know, he's probably right." Tea said with a gentle hand on Tristan's arm. Her face was tear streaked. Tristan pulled her into a tight embrace as much to comfort her as himself.

………

Seto finally found what he was looking for. A dark-skinned, gray-haired man who was tall enough to loom over Seto barked orders, a WT (walkie-talkie) in one hand and a megaphone in the other. Seto tapped him on the shoulder. The nameplate on the man's chest identified him as Sgt. James Patterson. He looked at the cerulean-eyed boy with an annoyance that bordered on a barely restrained urge to kill.

"I'm Seto Kaiba. I have two helicopters on the way. They are on radio frequency 144.6. Tell my pilots what you need them to do."

Sgt. Patterson smiled gratefully at the young CEO. Saying this fire was a disaster was like saying it was warm in hell. The local rescue helicopter was out of service and being repaired. The soonest one could get here from Tokyo was 20 minutes-way too late. The only way they could rescue anybody from that building was from the roof. Sgt. Patterson and the fire chief had conferred and were certain they had a maximum of 10 minutes before the building collapsed.

The helicopters could be heard overhead now. Sgt. Patterson turned to the young woman next to him. "Chani, get two crews of rescue workers ready to go. I want one team on each chopper."

"Yes, sir."

A helicopter hovered in mid-air over Seto Kaiba's head. A rope ladder was thrown down. Seto grabbed it and began to climb. The young blond woman who organized the two rescue teams and four firefighter/paramedics prepared to follow the young CEO.

Sgt. Patterson yelled up at Seto. "You'll have to get the survivors from the roof. There's no way to access the building from the ground."

Seto nodded. He didn't like the word 'survivors'. It implied the likelihood of fatalities. It implied the possibility Jou could die tonight. Seto took the copilot's seat, grabbed a headset and started issuing orders.

………….

He was running again. The fiery stone path under his feet wound away into the darkness, sweat was soaking his favorite crimson suit, and his beautiful silver locks hung in lifeless dull strings. He was out of breath and utterly exhausted, but he didn't dare stop. If only he could reach her in time…

The dream sequence abruptly changed as a sharp turn ended up in a chamber of Castle Pegasus that had been sealed for seventeen years. A beautiful room full of hope and promise with freshly painted sunshine yellow walls, white woodwork accented at the upper joins with charmingly carved rubber ducks, the high ceiling painted sky blue with white fluffy clouds, a beautiful heirloom cradle, and a portrait newly hung of a proud father and his newborn son. The nursery.

Cecelia stood in the center of the room swaying to the lovely lullaby she sang to the small bundle cradled in her arms.

Pegasus stared helplessly at the vision before him. This was the past, a memory of a time of blissful peace and love that etched a perfect portrait of how he believed his life would always be. But life was arbitrary and he could never reclaim what he had lost.

The scene changed again. Smoke and flame filled the nursery trapping his wife and son in a merciless ring of fire. Her lovely azure eyes gazed into his as she stretched a slender hand out. "Maximillion, find our son…"

Pegasus heard his echoed screams even as he woke from the dream. Cecelia's musical voice followed him into the present. Not a dream…a vision. Cecelia's body might be imprisoned in the grave, but her soul was very much alive. She was reaching out him from the Shadow Realm, his psychic abilities allowing them a fragile connection quickly broken.

__

The Shadow Realm? Why would Cecelia's soul be in the Shadow Realm? It was a most perplexing riddle that he simply could not comprehend and then it was lost in the urgent and overwhelming desire to find his child.

………….

They made it to the third floor of the apartment building. The air was slightly better up here. The door to the stairwell leading up to the roof was at the end of the hallway. The main staircase wound its way up through the center of the building. They didn't have far to go, but it was dark and hard to breathe.

A woman's voice called out to them from the roof's stairwell. "There's a Kaiba Corp helicopter here to rescue us!"

The tense and fearful mood of the residents lessened considerably. They moved in a slow awkward shuffle to the stairs leading to the roof.

Joey handed the little boy he was carrying to Yugi. " Yug, you go on with the others. I'm gonna wait for Dad. Okay?"

"No, Joey, it's not okay!" Yugi protested.

The little boy's mother reclaimed her older child, apparently having gotten someone else to look after her daughter.

"Thank you for your help." She whispered and disappeared into the smoke.

Do what he says, little light. I have a bad feeling about this.Yami said through their mental link.

/No. I'm not going without Jou!/ Yugi shot back defiantly.

"Joey…your dad…is still on the second floor." Sobbed an elderly woman clutching at her chest as she finally reached the blond.

"Mrs. Winters? Where?"

"I couldn't…get out of my…apartment." She said brokenly as tears streaked through soot on the woman's wrinkled face. "I called out for help…Jonathan was there…just like an angel…He helped me to the stairs…something crashed…he kept telling me to go…" Mrs. Winters collapsed into Joey's arms. He quickly pushed her to Yugi.

"Get her out of here!"

"But, Joey…"

Joey was already gone, desperation and adrenaline renewing his strength as he took the stairs two and three at a time.

…………….

The firefighters reached Yugi and pulled Mrs. Winters off of him. "Kid, are you all right? Is this you grandmother?" Yugi shook his head no. "Come on, we've got to go. This building is going to collapse any minute…"

"No! There's still people in here!"

"There are? Where?"

"On the second floor, my friend and his dad."

The firefighters exchanged dismal looks.

"You've got to get them out of here!" Yugi shouted.

"No, kid. We've got to get _you _out of here."

In his golden prison, Yami felt something in Yugi's spirit die. They weren't going to try to save Jou and his dad. Frustration and rage built to hurricane force within the ancient pharaoh's soul room. The Millennium Puzzle became an awesome source of light in the smoky darkness. The third eye appeared on Yugi's forehead.

The firefighters each took hold of one of Yugi's arms, prepared to physically haul him from the blazing building, but Yugi's only awareness was of the electrifying power growing in strength as it usually did when Yami took control of Yugi's body and he willingly surrendered to it. _They won't be able to stand up to the wrath of my Yami! _He thought. But then the current changed-multiplying and dividing at the same time. The effect was dizzying and Yugi momentarily blacked out.

………………

Joey made it to Mrs. Winters' apartment. It was the first one on the east side of the stairs. The metal door to her apartment had come free of its frame and partially concealed a hole where the floor had collapsed.

"Dad! Dad! Can you hear me?" He didn't want to look at that hole. He didn't want to look down it. He was afraid of what he might see; yet he had to know. He grabbed the metal with his bare hands and attempted to expose the dreaded hole. He forced the door to move a few inches before the nerve centers in his brain registered that the door was hotter than any oven he'd been near. He looked down and thought he could make out a twisted form at the bottom of a deep well of smoke and soot.

"Dad! Dad, where are you?" Jou's voice was raspy and tight, a combination of smoke inhalation and tears threatened to overwhelm him as his mind refused to accept what his eyes told him. The fire was everywhere now, fiery red tongues hungrily lapping up everything in their path.

Jou slid down the wall. "Dad? Daddy, where are you?" he whispered in a small child's voice. _It's just a bad dream. I'll go to sleep and when I wake up, I'll be in my own bed in my own room and Dad will be snoring in his room across the hall…_ He closed his eyes and started to drift away.

………

"Joseph! Joseph! Wake up!" Joey opened his eyes with great reluctance. A beautiful woman with long golden tresses and eyes the color of a clear blue sky knelt beside him. He'd seen her before, but couldn't remember where or when. Some part of his brain registered her strangeness. He could see through her into Mrs. Winters' apartment as if she were no more than a gossamer veil.

"Joseph, you have to get up. You have to get out of here." Beautiful and soft looking though she was her voice was quite stern.

"Nope." Joey said stubbornly. "You're a dream. Go away."

She shook her golden head. "Son, you're not going to die here."

"Uh huh." Joey nodded.

"I'm not a dream. I'm a spirit." Cecelia tried again.

Joey smiled warmly. "Then you probably know my friend Yami…" And then he passed out.

………

The rescue worker in front of Yugi stepped back from the blinding light radiating from the boy. The boy's body jerked and went limp as strong hands caught him by the shoulders.

"Hey, where did you come from?" The other stunned firefighter asked.

Yugi returned as if from a great height to awareness and found himself staring into fuchsia eyes.

"Aibou, I'll get them." Yami passed Yugi to the firefighter. "Get him out of here!"

He turned and sprinted for the stairwell, amazed by the physical manifestation of his body. Limited and temporary, his magical energies would maintain it for only a few minutes before exhausting themselves, but it would be enough-it had to be.

…………

"Charlie some idiot kid went down to the second floor!"

Charlie had just emerged from a vacated apartment. He signaled to two other firefighters. "We'll go after him. Everyone on this floor is out. Mac, go with Ted and get this boy to the roof."

"But, Charlie." Ted whined as he hoisted Yugi into the classic fireman's carry. " We have orders not to go to the lower floors. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah?" Charlie retorted. "What good are we if we can't deal with a little danger?" Charlie spun on his heel motioning for the remaining firefighter to follow.

………..

"Joey! Mr. Wheeler! Can you hear me?" Yami called out.

He stood at the bottom of the stairs on the murky second floor of the fast disintegrating building in his own lean, tightly muscled body. It felt good to act on his own, in his own physical form, and the magic he learned in the stress of the moment was not that different from switching consciousnesses with Yugi. He had just focused the energy differently to come up with physical mass.

The smoke in the hall made his eyes tear and his throat constrict. He couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. No mortal could survive than a few moments of this. Yami's magical body would simply disintegrate and his soul would return to the Puzzle, but Joey and his father would not be so fortunate.

"Joey! Joey! By the gods, answer me!" The ancient pharaoh commanded in the dark.

He took a few tentative steps going west of the staircase when he felt a cool change in air temperature. He sensed the presence of…another spirit? He turned and caught a glimpse of blue silk and honey blond hair.

He ran after the apparition. She stopped and faced him with pleading blue eyes. "Take care of my son." She whispered and vanished.

And there, curled in a heap of leather jacket and blue jeans was Joey.

"Joey! Wake up!" Yami slapped his face and was rewarded as the tawny chocolate eyes opened halfway. "Come on, Joey. Yugi's waiting for us. We've got to get out of here!"

Yami pulled the blond boy up, draping one limp arm over his shoulders and attempted to pull Joey to his feet. It proved to be a difficult task. Joey was both heavier and taller than Yami, but Yami was no weakling. He half-drug, half-walked Joey toward the staircase that now seemed to be an impossible distance away. Yami felt the floor begin to give way under his feet. He rolled backward, pulling Jou back and down with him as a section of flooring dropped to the fiery chasm below.

__

Now what? Yami thought. He would survive because _he_ was already dead, as contradictory as that seemed. But Joey…

"Hey, kid, are you down here? Can you answer me?" A voice penetrated the smoke as the particle-dispersed glow of a flashlight beam caught Yami's stinging eyes.

"Here! There's a hole in front of me. My friend is unconscious."

"Okay, son. We're going to get you both out of here."

Yami could see the shadows of two forms come closer, flashlight beams scanning the floor ahead to avoid pitfalls and debris.

When Charlie and his partner, Bruce, were standing as close to the hole as they could, they reached out. "Okay. Pass your friend over to us."

Yami struggled with Jou's limp form and then the blond was on the other side of the chasm. One firefighter retreated into the dark. As the other one turned back to help Yami, the spirit of the pharaoh let his magical body disintegrate and his awareness returned to the now comforting chambers of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Huh?" Bruce grunted. The kid vanished right before his eyes!

"Bruce, what's the hold up?"

"Uh…coming, Charlie."

……….

Seto jumped the six-foot drop from his hovering chopper to the roof of the building; the choppers couldn't risk landing on the roof because the building was far too unstable. He watched the rescue crews go to work helping shell-shocked victims of the fire onto the helicopter. When the first chopper was filled and on its way to Domino Hospital the second took its place. Seto had seen nothing of either Jou or Yugi and was becoming irate. Over the radio, he'd heard there was precious little time to get the residents out before the building collapsed.

"Sir…? Mr. Kaiba? You need to get on the helicopter. It's too dangerous…" Chani trailed off. She noticed that while the heat of the fire was rising all around them, the temperature around Kaiba dropped to negative digits.

Two firefighters emerged from the building and one carried a limp Yugi over his shoulder.

"Yugi Motou!" Seto said sharply. Yugi's eyes opened slowly as he was lowered to the ground. "Where's Wheeler?" The CEO demanded harshly.

Yugi's tears flowed freely as he faced his archrival. Another rooftop, another duel, and this time it was Joey's life on the line. "He went to find his dad…"

"Damn mutt!" Kaiba stormed off to the staircase.

"Where do you think you're going?" Two burly firefighters blocked Kaiba's path.

"Get out of my way!" the CEO ordered.

Yugi watched the scene as if from a great distance. He felt disconnected from everything around him. He was empty inside and didn't know why, didn't want to know why.

………

On the ground Tristan and Tea had identical looks of horror plastered on their faces.

Tea spoke first, " We can't do anything to help him here. Maybe we should go to the hospital and wait. I'm sure that's where they're taking everyone." She wiped tears off her face with the back of her hand.

"Good idea, Tea." As they headed for Tristan's bike, he noticed a familiar green Harley parked behind the blood red Mercedes.

'Kaiba is here _because_ of Joey? What's up with that?' Tristan thought in confusion.

………

A knockdown, drag-out fistfight was on the verge of breaking out on the roof. A fight, had Seto been thinking clearly, he would have realized he could not win. The firefighters were decked out in at least 50 pounds of fire protective gear each. Any blow Kaiba tried to land would hurt him worse than them.

"Move it, guys! Let us out!" Charlie yelled. He held the body of a blond boy who looked more dead than alive.

Seto snatched Jou away from the firefighter with his own personal brand of tender roughness.

Chani bent over Joey, "He's not breathing. No pulse. Move it people!"

They made a dash for the chopper. Everyone made it inside, except for Charlie who was three rungs from the top of the ladder when the building went. He almost fell as thunderous waves of air and sound engulfed him, but a vice-like grip stabilized him. Charlie looked up into twin chips of blue ice and felt himself being pulled inside even as the chopper itself swayed and steadied, forcing itself to reach a higher altitude under the guidance of an unknown, but talented pilot.


	8. And What Is Yet To Come

****

Chapter 8 And What Is Yet To Come

A/N: My mother is the head police dispatcher for our little county in the middle of nowhere. I didn't go into as much detail with the previous chapter as I probably could have to make it accurate. I felt it would weigh the plotline down too much. I attributed the cause of the fire to an actual incident that caused a house to explode in my hometown.

Firevega21-there aren't any Roger/Jou flashbacks in IKYOTS, though I had seriously considered it. Well, I'm not done with the fic yet so who knows? It could happen.

Warnings: More Seto torture! A teensy bit of vulgarity.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I'm just a wanna be writer who would like to lay claim to this franchise that is making somebody somewhere unbelievably wealthy. I, however, own nothing but a stack of duel monster cards…

………

"Headlining the local news today, the Sennen Elephant Apartments in Domino City caught fire at 12:50 a.m. A specific cause for the blaze has not yet officially been determined. But sources say that as a result of recent seasonal flooding, a sewer leak under the building may have caused enough pressure to spontaneously combust causing the tragedy. Four fatalities and several injuries resulted from this unfortunate incident…" The newscaster droned on in a monotone. Yugi clicked the TV off.

Four fatalities, three were unlucky occupants of the first floor and the fourth was Jonathan Wheeler. Yugi sighed falling back into the pillows of his bed in the hospital room he shared with Joey.

Joey had very nearly been victim number five. The paramedics on Kaiba's chopper had been unable to revive the blond by the time they reached the hospital and there had been precious little hope for Joey's survival. Yugi hadn't been aware of much more than Seto Kaiba barking orders at flustered doctors when they tried to explain that there was nothing more they could do. Joey was gone. Kaiba adamantly insisted they get their butts in gear and try to resuscitate him one more time. The doctors relented and were amazed when they were successful.

So here they were, crammed into a small hospital room, just the five of them. Yugi was being treated for smoke inhalation. His grandpa sat beside him occasionally squeezing Yugi's hand to reassure himself that his grandson was really okay. Tristan slouched in his chair next to Joey, his feet on the bedrail half asleep. Tea was antsy and had probably flipped through every magazine in every waiting room in the hospital. She had lost whatever self-control she had managed to keep when they rolled Yugi into the emergency room. She and Tristan were totally bewildered, neither of them had any idea Yugi was with Joey. _Of course, the four cups of coffee Tea drank during the night might have contributed to her jitters now, _Yugi smiled to himself.

But the smile faded as Yugi remembered Jou's dad. Jou had a good relationship with his father and that should be a comfort to his friend, but it would also make the loss harder to bear. Yugi's eyes filled again with tears. Joey didn't even have a chance to tell his dad good-bye…how were they, as his friends, going to be able to tell him that his father died in that fire? How were they ever going to be able to comfort and console him? Friendship was a wonderful thing, but it still wasn't the same as family…_No, we will be his family and we will see him through this no matter what, _Yugi decided.

Seto Kaiba strode into the hospital room as if he owned it with a tall skinny nurse following in his wake.

"Kaiba, what are you doing here?" Tristan tensed and hovered protectively over Joey's bed, suspicion clearly written on his features.

Solomon Motou looked questioningly at the nurse who smiled at Yugi. "The doctor said it would be good for you to get some fresh air. Your friends can join you." She suggested as she prepared to move Yugi to a wheelchair.

They all turned and frowned at Kaiba. Tristan glanced at Joey who was still sleeping and could sleep through anything. Tristan didn't want him disturbed. "Can't you come back and talk to him later? I know you plotted this little fresh air fiasco. I don't know why you were at Jou's apartment last night, but if I find out you had anything to do with that fire, I will personally see to it that you burn at the stake." Tristan snarled between gritted teeth.

"Tough talk, Taylor. Too bad you have nothing to back it up with. No. I can't come back later. I have a company to run." Seto glared at Tristan daring him to challenge the CEO further.

"Don't wake him up! And don't you dare upset him!" Tristan stalked out of the room.

The others left wordlessly and only Yugi didn't seem to suspect malicious intent on Kaiba's part. The lavender-eyed boy realized everyone could have died in that building if Kaiba hadn't responded quickly to the emergency.

Kaiba took Tristan's vacated seat. He was grateful both that Jou was alive and that he was sleeping. It gave him a few moments to collect his thoughts. He needed to talk to Jou, now more than ever. Somehow, he felt he should be the one to tell Jou about his father's passing. Seto didn't want him to hear it from a stranger and it seemed cruel to burden his friends with the task. _No, _Seto thought, _you're giving yourself too much credit. You are not altruistic. You really want to be the one to tell the puppy about his dad because you want him to turn to you for comfort_.

"Oh, Puppy, what is it about you that makes everyone love you so?" He whispered brushing a strand of thick blond hair out of the boy's eyes.

Jou whimpered and stirred, "Dad? Dad, are you here?" Joey opened his eyes as he groggily came out of his dream. "Thirsty."

"Here, Pup." Seto got a glass of ice water with a bendy straw in it and placed it to the blonde's parched lips.

Joey sipped a little and full awareness slowly returned to the golden brown eyes. The memories of the night before replayed in his mind. He jerked himself upright in the bed, smacked the offending hand holding the Styrofoam cup out of the way and sloshed ice water on the bed and Kaiba in the process. The abrupt action resulted in a rush of dizziness and an instant piercing headache. Jou immediately hugged his face into his hands only to find them bandage-wrapped mittens. His left arm was tangled in soft plastic tubing and he realized one of those tubes was plugged into his nose. He tried to paw at it savagely with a bandaged hand.

"Whoa, Puppy. Take it easy." Seto tried to gently restrain Jou before he managed to knock himself out with one of his pseudo boxing gloves.

Jou glared at the older cerulean-eyed teen with anger as heated as any fire. "**I am not a damn dog!** What are _you _doing here? Where's Yugi? Where's my dad?" Joey screamed at the top of his smoke impaired lungs. It hurt, but he didn't care. There were deeper hurts he would have to live with a lot longer than he would the physical pain and Joey didn't want to deal with them yet, so instead he took his rage out on the unprepared CEO.

"Yugi is fine. He and your friends will be back in a few minutes." Seto kept his voice very calm and proceeded with caution. "Jou, your dad…"

"Is dead! I know, damn you! I know! What is this? Some sick little joke of yours to torment me? Joey the fag's daddy's dead! The mutt's a stray! Why don't you rub it in? Get out! I don't ever want to see your face again!" Jou shrieked on the borderline of hyperventilation.

Two nurses, a doctor, and an orderly came running into the room. Kaiba backed away. He had taunted Jou relentlessly and as a result had gotten what he deserved. He was furious with himself for his emotional involvement, for his faint hope of friendship. Never, ever again would he be so stupid. He bolted from the hospital room as quickly as he could without actually running.

……….

By the time Joey's friends returned the blonde was fast asleep again. A nurse came in and explained that Jou had to be sedated.

"Why?" asked Solomon.

"When he woke up he was quite upset-screaming-and he could have hurt himself." The nurse calmly explained.

"Why was he screaming?" Tristan's voice rose a little higher with each syllable.

The nurse started backing out of the room. "I don't know, sir. He's been scheduled for grief counseling. If he becomes violent again, he may have to be moved to the psychiatric ward."

"Violent?" Tristan's voice was now not only raised but also carried a dangerous edge. The nurse left quickly.

"Psychiatric ward?" Yugi echoed.

"That corporate creep Kaiba!" Tristan fumed. "I'm gonna wring his skinny neck. Yug, Tea, I'll catch you later. Mr. Motou." He gave Solomon a quick little bow as he started to leave.

"Tristan, don't do anything stupid." Tea pleaded.

"Nah, I'm gonna go for a ride, blow off some steam, and then call Serenity." He winked at her as he left.

Yugi looked at his grandpa with worry-filled lavender eyes. "What will happen to Joey now?"

"I'm not sure, Yugi. He might go to the United States to live with his mother and sister." Solomon answered.

Yugi paled in horror at the idea. "No, Grandpa. Couldn't he stay with us? He could help out with the shop. I know we don't have much room, but I could clean out my bedroom…"

"Hush, Yugi. We'll have to wait and see." Solomon tried to soothe his suddenly frantic grandson.

………

Kaiba actually made it to the main lobby of the hospital before being accosted by a host of rabid reporters.

"Sir, why were you at the Sennen Elephant Apartments last night?"

"How do you think this humanitarian effort will impact on Kaiba Corp's global image?"

"Was this a publicity stunt?'

"Did you know any of the victims personally?"

"Are you aware that you're being called a hero by the rescue workers and the survivors alike?"

Kaiba tried to push through the crowd. _Damn, Mutt! This is what I get for trying to be nice, for trying to pull your butt out of the fire and now you won't even look at me._ The CEO hated having attention drawn to him, hated the pushing and prodding of reporters following the scent of blood. A well-planned private interview or a meticulously organized press conference from time to time was necessary, but this was down right rude and disrespectful.

"No comment." He repeated several times. He palmed his cell phone and whispered into it. "Send me a limo to the main entrance of Domino Hospital, put a pair of security guards in it and get it here now!"

He rounded on the mass of eager reporters, camera flashes blinding him. Seto Kaiba, CEO of a major Japanese corporation, eighteen years old with untold wealth and power, was nevertheless totally alone.

………

Tristan stepped off the elevator and stopped abruptly at the scene of chaos before him. It didn't take long to figure out who the center of attention was. He smiled maliciously to himself. _That jerk deserves it. But then again, if I don't do something, each one of these maniacs is gonna get a piece of Kaiba before I do. And if there is one thing Kaiba hates, it's owing anyone a favor…'_

"Coming through!" Tristan yelled, brazenly pushing into the crowd. He grabbed Kaiba's elbow and started ushering him through the tide of reporters.

One little guy who was only slightly taller than Yugi and wore glasses made the mistake of confronting Kaiba's rescuer. "Who are you?"

Tristan's fist connected with the little guy's nose of its own volition knocking him out cold.

"I'm Kaiba's bodyguard." Tristan announced loudly cracking his knuckles. " You want a piece of him? You gotta go through me first!"

The lobby quieted down rather quickly. A pair of Kaiba Corp security guards burst in through the lobby doors and surrounded their only slightly worse for the wear boss.

"You guys are late to the party." Seto growled. "Tristan, thanks…I think." Seto could just picture having to go to court to get the dark-eyed brunette off assault charges.

"Hey man, it was nothing. No, wait. I have a few questions of my own. And I don't appreciate you getting my pal so worked up that the doctors are threatening to put him on the psyche ward.

Kaiba paled, _psyche ward? _"Come on." Somehow he knew there would be a catch to aid unlooked for. _Maybe I should hire Taylor to be my bodyguard? _He shrugged the errant thought off and headed to his limo.

………

The sun rose on Duelist Kingdom just as it always did. Pegasus stood on the balcony of his private suite. It was wondrous watching the sun give birth to the freshly dew washed day. This was the only time of the day he truly did not mind being alone. It was a spectacle he preferred to observe in solitude, a private ritual that cleansed away all doubt and fear. He found the strength in each sunrise to not give into despair.

And today, Pegasus was going to embark upon a new mission. He had decided to seek out and reclaim his only child, if at all possible. Pegasus knew very well that the limitations of possibility could be stretched a fair distance if one were bold enough to try.

The silver haired man smiled gently, totally unaware that his face lit up with a beauty to rival any sunrise as he did so.


	9. Conversations and Phone Calls

****

Chapter 9 Conversations and Phone Calls

LOL….He's back. The bunny slipper, Toon-addicted, one-eyed duel monsters reinventor lives!!! Okay, I'm over it. Well, not really, but… 

Disclaimer: We are all well aware that I am not one of the gods of Yugioh…so…on with the show.

………….

A few hours, a couple phone calls, and a webcam meeting later, Pegasus' workday was over. Industrial Illusions was self-sufficient enough that Max didn't have to babysit his brainchild. He designed the company that way. He, after all, had better things to do, like plan duelist tournaments and watch Funny Bunny cartoons. It had proved to be a good thing too, considering that if Industrial Illusions needed its president to continue running, Pegasus would have returned from the Shadow Realm to face bankruptcy court.

He sat at his dining room table sipping wine and nibbling on the fruit and cheese that formed his rather light lunch. Pegasus certainly never envisioned running a business as his life's work. He wasn't the control freak Kaiba-boy was, demanding to know where every penny went and about every paper clip that dropped to the floor. Yes, he'd tried to get the young CEO to relax and enjoy a little pleasure in life. After all, Pegasus taught the boy wonder the game of Duel Monsters in the first place and awarded him his first Blue Eyes White Dragon for the first tournament he won. Pegasus' affection for the boy had been akin to what he might have felt for his own son, tenderness and pride.

Their paths had originally crossed in business before Seto received his inheritance from Gozaburo. Now _there _was a villain if Pegasus had ever seen one. The boy had been perhaps thirteen the first time Pegasus met him. Seto had accompanied his father to the meeting Pegasus arranged to discuss the possibility of building dueling arenas and incorporating holographic technology to bring the card game to life.

Gozaburo sneered at the idea, thinking technology was wasted on the entertainment industry. But Pegasus watched Seto closely with _both _eyes and realized the boy was severely emotionally abused. Seto would never openly defy his father, but the dull blue eyes that greeted Pegasus with disdain at the beginning of the meeting blazed blue fire by the end of it. One could almost see the calculations and lines of programming code racing through the boy's mind. Even with no knowledge of Duel Monsters the possibilities intrigued Seto in a way nothing else ever had.

So Pegasus sat back and waited, knowing it would only be a matter of time before the boy became a man who no longer bowed and scraped to his father. There was simply too much fire and passion in Seto for anyone to dominate him for long.

As Pegasus had predicted Seto came into his own and much sooner than he had anticipated. The Duel Monsters creator extended his hand in friendship to the boy, who obviously needed a bit of compassion and kindness in his life. Unfortunately it backfired. Seto was far too guarded to accept friendship at face value without searching for ulterior motives and truthfully, Pegasus _did_ have another motive. He had hoped to win the boy's confidence and eventually see if the brilliant mind could develop holographic technology that could create a solid copy of his wife's body, magic would do the rest. There was no harm intended to Kaiba Corp or the young brothers who owned the company. Pegasus' plan would be beneficial to both companies. Yet Seto erroneously believed Pegasus intended to take control of Kaiba Corp and ironically ended up putting the idea in Pegasus' head. In the meantime, the companies did manage to form a mutually profitable business arrangement and Seto transformed the stagnant Kaiba Corporation into the lively, growing entity it was today seemingly overnight.

Pegasus toyed with the annoying black eye patch absently and thought over his conversation with Shadi. When the guardian of the Millennium items used the Key to enter Max's mind for a moment the events that took place during his incarceration in the Shadow Realm had become crystal clear and then they were gone, leaving only a faint painless echo behind.

Pegasus was certain that somehow the Eye had forced him to dwell on the hurtful past, driving him closer to insanity's edge day by painful day, instead of allowing him to release his grief for Cecelia in a more natural way. He felt so much better now. The pain and emptiness were still there and would probably always be a part of him, yet the desperation that weighed so heavily on him was receding.

While embracing his newfound passion for life he had forgotten just who had forced the Millennium Eye on him in the first place…

……….

The limo driver dropped Kaiba and Tristan off at Kaiba's mansion and headed off to return the security guards to Kaiba Corp. Seto led Tristan into the mansion's library. The room smelled of old leather and had an atmosphere inductive to quiet contemplation…or sleep.

Seto gestured for Tristan to sit down on the overstuffed leather couch, he himself laid claim to a matching armchair. Seto allowed Tristan to gawk at the room for a moment. "You had some questions, Taylor."

"Um…oh, yeah." His earlier anger was totally forgotten. He couldn't believe he was in Kaiba's mansion. "Why were you at Joey's apartment building last night?"

Kaiba restrained the urge to outright lie or tell the boy with the shark fin hairdo that it was none of his business. "We had a disagreement at the White Tiger earlier in the evening. He chose to terminate his employment. I went to his home to convince him to reconsider." Kaiba stated formally.

Tristan's eyes narrowed. There was something wrong with this picture…"And that's why you were at the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Since when do you care so much about anyone quitting their job? Haven't you got anything better to do than stalk restaurant valets?" Tristan snapped. "I don't blame Joey for quitting. I wouldn't want to work for you either!"

Tristan stormed out of the library, looked around, spun on his heel and went back in. "How the heck do you get out of here?"

Seto sighed and showed Tristan to the door. But before he left, Tristan faced Kaiba one more time. "I don't know what your game is, Kaiba, or what you said to Jou today, but you've done enough. Just back off."

Seto closed the front door of his oversized house and leaned against it. Suddenly, he was very tired.

……….

Yugi's grandpa had taken Tea home and planned to open the game shop for a couple hours. Yugi tried to gently shake Joey awake. "Joey, Joey… wake up. We need to talk. A social worker's going to be here just any time…"

"Grrr…Go away, Dad…I'll get up…give me a minute." Jou grumbled groggily. Yugi's eyes stung with tears when Joey mentioned his dad.

Jou sat up partway and tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes. Bandages. Annoying tubes. Kaiba…

"Joey, I need to tell you about your dad." Yugi said softly.

Jou took a deep breath that bordered on a sob. "It's okay, Yug. I know. He didn't make it."

"Oh…"

"Look, I knew he was gone last night. I just…do we have to talk about this right now?"

"Well…yeah. Joey, someone was here from Toyota earlier. They wanted to know if it was okay if they made the funeral arrangements. They want you to call them." Yugi started to hand Jou a business card and then looked helplessly at Joey's burned and bandaged hands. He withdrew the card and tried to choke back tears. "They also said a couple of families have offered to let you stay with them. You wouldn't have to move to your mother's if you didn't want to."

Joey had a free flowing stream of tears running down his face and Yugi had given up trying to restrain his own.

__

Damn useless hands! Jou tried to rub the evidence away. He wished Yugi would shut up. His emotions were more raw than his hands and he needed time to adjust to one thing at a time. He wished Yugi would quit watching him with those huge, compassionate lavender eyes. The tenderness expressed in them was fast unraveling the last threads of Jou's composure. And although he would never admit it to anyone, he felt that he would shatter into a billion tiny pieces that all of his willpower and all of his friends would never be able to put back together again.

Instead, Yugi continued talking and started dabbing Joey's face with a tissue. "I…I talked to Grandpa and he said you could stay with us. I'd…I'd really like it if you did."

"Yug, I can't do that. I can't put that kind of burden on our friendship…and I don't know, maybe I should go live with my mom."

"I really don't want you to leave. I might never see you again." Yugi sobbed.

"Yugi, has anyone talked to my mom or sis yet?'

"I…I don't know."

"Yes, Joseph. Child Protection has spoken to your mother." A soft, but firm voice spoke from the doorway. "I'm Shyla Tanner. I'm your case worker."

………….

"Mrs. Wheeler, please let me talk to her."

"I'm sorry, Tristan. Serenity is much too upset at the moment to accept phone calls. We've already been informed of her father's death. Now would you please leave us alone?" Maria Wheeler's voice held barely restrained anger.

__

Man, she's a bitch! Tristan thought.

"Mom, is that Joey?" Tristan heard Serenity ask her mother before she could hang up.

"No, Serenity. Go back to bed." Her mother gently told her.

"But the phone call _is _for me, isn't it? I heard you say I couldn't take it. Is it Tristan?"

Maria huffed in defeat and relinquished the phone to her daughter.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Sweetness. How's it going?"

"Oh…well, I've had better days. How's my brother?"

"I haven't actually gotten to talk to him, Serenity. You know how much that big brother of yours likes to sleep." Tristan tried to sound cheerful, but he was very concerned about his girlfriend. "He's going to be fine, Sweetness. He has some smoke inhalation and he burned his hands, but he'll be good as new in a few days."

He could hear her trying to muffle the sound of her crying on the other end of the line. "Sweetness, talk to me."

"Oh, Tristan, it's horrible." She paused and he heard the decisive click of a door latch. "Mother won't let me come back for Dad's funeral. I wanted to stay in Domino with Daddy and Joey, but she made me come back to the States…and now I'm stuck here." She sobbed.

Tristan was angry enough to explode. It wasn't right! Joey would go ballistic when he found out.

"Tristan?"

"I'm still here, Serenity. I just had a sudden urge to go pick a fight with a brick wall." He mumbled.

Surprisingly, she laughed. "Oh, Tristan, I'm so glad you called." For a moment there was a thoughtful silence between the two.

"Tristan?" Serenity's voice was quiet and serious. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"A social worker called from Domino today. I…overheard Mom's end of the conversation." She hesitated, uncertain of how to put her thoughts into words. "I think the social worker wanted to know if Mom was willing to take custody of Joey now that Dad is gone…"

"It's okay, Serenity. Just tell me."

"Oh, Tristan, I despise her! I really do!" The auburn haired girl broke into a fresh sob. "She was so cold about it. She said she didn't want anything to do with Joey…that…that he wasn't her son…"

"Huh…? What do you mean, Serenity?"

"Joey was adopted! And he doesn't know, Tristan! I just found out today. What's going to happen to my brother?"

"Hush, Serenity. Calm down." Tristan tried mentally to rock the distraught girl in his arms.

"She just abandoned him. I'm not sure she cares about him at all…just because she didn't give birth to him. What kind of woman does that make my mother…that she can be so unfeeling toward a child she helped raise?" The dam of emotions she tried to hold back broke. In spite of the fact she and Tristan were on two different continents with an ocean between them, she felt very close to him. Tristan was the only person who could comfort her right now.

"Hey, Sweetness, we'll figure something out. Okay? I promise, nothing on earth will keep you from your big brother."

"Thank you, Tristan. Thank you so much. I better go. I think Mom's having a fit. I'll talk to you soon."

"Yeah. Take care, Serenity." She hung up. _I love you, Sweetness_, Tristan thought to the dead line. Then he began to ponder just how he was going to keep his promise to her.

…………

As far as Shyla Tanner was concerned Maria Wheeler was an unfit mother and this boy was better off without her. But Shyla knew what she had to tell him would break his heart even worse than it already was. "I'm truly sorry for your loss, Joseph. This has to be a very difficult time for you and everything probably seems to be happening all at once. I'm here to do whatever I can to help make things easier for you. But I have to be honest with you as well. Okay?"

"What's wrong?" Jou asked her tensing. He understood too well that the social worker was trying to soften yet another blow to his vulnerable psyche.

Shyla sighed. "I talked to your mother before coming to the hospital. It's out of the question for her to take custody of you."

"Huh? Why? Oh…" Realization dawned. "She won't take me." He was crushed. He didn't really care that much about his mother, but he desperately wanted to be reunited with his sister.

Shyla's face saddened. "Joseph, on the bright side, several families have offered to open their homes to you. They will have to be approved before you can be placed, but you can state your preferences. I'll be in touch." She laid some papers down on Joey's bedside table and left.

Joey let his anger and tears blind him for a moment. What _had _he been thinking? That his mother would take him in now when she clearly hadn't wanted him at the age of ten?

"Joey, you should look at this." Yugi drew his attention back to the papers.

Joey tried to concentrate on the list Yugi held for him. The Cranston's-the father worked with Jonathan and they had raised several foster kids. The Taylor's-Tristan's family. His father also worked with Jou's dad, but had homophobic tendencies. The Motou's-no surprise there. Yugi was practically begging him to move in with he and his grandfather.

The Kaiba's-_what the hell?_

"What is he trying to pull!?" Jou demanded instantly torqued.

"No idea, Joey. But he has always seemed to take an interest in you." Yugi thought it was strange that although he very much wanted Joey to move into the Turtle Game Shop that he rather liked the idea of Joey staying with Seto. Those two could learn a lot from each other. He remembered how possessive Kaiba had been of Joey on the roof of the apartment building and how determined he was about Joey's resuscitation. It really didn't take a genius to figure that equation out.

"What do you mean, Yug?"

"Well, before he quit going to high school, it seemed to me that Kaiba always went out of his way to tease you…"

"It was more like torment. That's what you call taking an interest?"

"Considering that he ignores 99.9% of the population?"

Joey frowned. He wasn't convinced.

Yugi reached over and squeezed Joey's arm. "You know, not everyone makes friends easily. You're the first real friend I ever had. Maybe in his own way, Kaiba is just trying to be your friend."

"By putting me down and comparing me to monkeys and dogs? Yugi, you need to go back to bed. I think the smoke got to your brain."

Yugi grinned, but got back in bed anyway. He really felt Kaiba had the capacity to 'play nice with others'-he just didn't know how.

……..

Joey was tired-tired of his bandage wrapped hands, tired of being tied down to tubes and machines, and most of all tired of the pain in his heart. He wanted it to all go away. He wanted to start yesterday over again and change the past.

He thought about what Yugi said about Kaiba. Was it possible? Ever since Joey first laid eyes on Seto Kaiba he felt something was off with the sultry blue-eyed teenager. Not that being the CEO of a corporation worth billions at the age of fifteen wasn't a rarity, but no one was just naturally born a cold-hearted bakayaru. Joey felt something really bad must have happened to Kaiba to make him so unfeeling. Their eyes had locked across a classroom for an instant. Joey was openly curious about the CEO and made the fatal mistake of not trying to hide it. Kaiba's ice chip eyes had flared with instant hatred. And so began a duel of an entirely different sort.

Jou slept and he dreamed of being cradled in the arms of his blue-eyed tormentor under a smoke-filled sky.

………

Seto drove home from his Kaiba Corp office. If he had been tired before, he was exhausted now. He had spoken to Shyla Tanner first thing in the morning. She had a reputation as a social worker for handling her cases effectively. Seto wanted her to take care of Joey's case and made certain she moved on it as quickly as possible. He made his offer to be Jou's guardian at that time.

After his encounter with Jou at the hospital, he killed the tiny flicker of hope he held onto of ever being anything other than an enemy to the blond. Jou would never consider allowing Seto to be his guardian and he knew he was going to have to withdraw into his cold, hard shell again. It might prove to be the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.


	10. Truth and Ashes

****

Chapter 10 Truth and Ashes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the major players appearing in this amateur production. I most definitely do not own Maria Wheeler nor would I ever want to…

…………

Monday.

Jou was up, showered, and dressed. Yugi had been released from the hospital on Sunday, but had spent most of the day with Joey anyway. Tristan was conspicuous only in his absence. Tea, Mai, and Ryou Bakura had all stopped by.

The doctor had taken the bandages off Joey's hands earlier. He had almost begged the doctor to replace the bandages after he saw the red, blistered, swollen mess. Once the air hit them, his hands immediately began to itch. The doctor gave him some cream to put on them and left. Jou didn't have a lot of mobility in his stiff, swollen fingers, but the pain was relatively mild. Of course, that was probably because of the painkillers they had kept pumped into him through the IV that was now gone.

Yesterday he had sent Tea to the mall with most of the tips he'd earned Friday night and he suspected she'd had a little too much fun shopping for him. She returned with the requested items-basic Joey staples-plus a few extras. She'd gotten him a suit to wear to his dad's funeral tomorrow-a suit he was certain he would look like either a pimp or a mobster in. It was dark green with baggy trousers and a double-breasted jacket with a black silk shirt.

He was getting out of the dreary hospital today. Shyla Tanner had called to tell him that he could stay at the Motou's for the following week, but both because of Solomon's age and the fact he already had custody of his grandson, Joey couldn't make his permanent residence there. All of the other households on his list were approved. All he had to do was pick one. He was expected to return to school the following week. He had no idea what he was going to do about his living arrangements, but he would deal with that later.

A quiet knock on his door brought Joey out of his reverie.

"Mr. Wheeler?"

"Yes?"

A slight built man entered the room. "I'm Hal Jacobson, your father's lawyer."

"Huh?" Jou didn't know his father had a lawyer.

"I'll be taking you to the Turtle Game Shop. We can talk on the way." Joey's lawyer by default continued.

"Uh…okay. Could you help me with these?" Joey indicated a couple bags with a tender hand.

"Certainly."

On the drive to the game shop, Mr. Jacobson explained to Joey what his business with him was. "I represented you father when your parents divorced, Mr. Wheeler. Your father left several documents in my care. In case something should happen to him, he wanted to be certain you were provided for. He put a respectable college fund away for you and there is a life insurance policy to be divided between you and your sister. And his will."

The lawyer pulled up in front of the game shop and turned to give his full attention to Joey. "In his will your father stated that if he died before you were of legal age, he wanted it made known to you that he and Maria Wheeler were not your biological parents."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The lawyer was giving Joey a major headache.

"It means, Mr. Wheeler, that you were adopted."

On top of everything else Joey had faced in the last four days, this new tidbit of information was overkill. He got out of the car and promptly passed out on the sidewalk.

……….

Tristan had been a busy boy. The only feasible plan he could come up with to get Serenity back to Domino for her father's funeral involved Kaiba. So he decided to face the cold CEO again. He was prepared to get down on his knees, grovel, and beg for forgiveness if necessary. Instead, he was stunned when Kaiba pulled out his checkbook and simply asked, "How much?"

Tristan brought Yugi and Tea in on his little conspiracy as well. Serenity would arrive this evening and stay with Tea until her return flight next Sunday. Maria Wheeler was less than enthusiastic about the idea, but Tristan had planned for every contingency carefully so the woman had no excuses to keep Serenity from attending her father's funeral.

Yugi had the difficult task of getting Joey to the airport without him suspecting anything. They would meet Tristan and Tea there to pick up Serenity. Tristan could barely wait to see the look on Joey's face.

……….

Joey woke up on the couch in the Motou's living room.

"Joey, are you okay?" Yugi asked.

It took Joey a minute to get his bearings. "Yeah. Yug, I'm okay. Could you get me the bag with my medicine in it?" Both his head and his hands throbbed painfully. Yugi came back with the smaller of the two hospital bags and a glass of water. "How long was I out?"

Yugi shrugged, "About an hour."

"Is that pizza I smell?"

"Yep." Yugi retrieved a pizza box from the kitchen and returned to Jou's side with a wide grin on his face. Joey tried not to drool.

"Joey, do you think you're up to doing something tonight? If you're not, it's okay. I wanted to take you someplace, but we don't have to go."

"Where?" Joey asked his curiosity piqued.

"Well…it's a surprise."

Jou was understandably wary. After all, he had enough surprises over the last few days to last him a lifetime and he wasn't feeling that great. But he hated to disappoint Yugi. Maybe a couple slices of pizza and doing something other than sitting around would make him feel better. "Sure, Yug, I'm up for it."

Yugi positively beamed.

………..

An hour and a half later, the Domino City Public Transit bus made its stop at the airport.

"This is our stop!" Yugi cheerfully announced.

"Uh…Yug? This is the airport…" Jou said baffled.

"Wow! You're right. It is." Yugi bounded off the bus with a quirky grin plastered on his face.

"Why are we at the airport?"

"It's a surprise." Yugi told him again mischief making his eyes dance.

Yugi led the way to a terminal; Jou became more perplexed when he saw Tristan and Tea waiting for them. Joey had a feeling that he should know what was up, but his brain wasn't processing the obvious.

"Jou, have a seat." Tristan invited.

Tea grabbed Yugi and pulled him off to the side whispering in his ear. When they came back they were grinning like a pair of Cheshire cats. Some how this only disturbed Joey more.

People started filing in through the terminal entryway after disembarking from their flight. They were here to meet someone, Joey slowly realized, but who? A light bulb went on in the blonde's head just as a certain petite auburn-haired girl stepped into the terminal. He jumped up and grabbed his sister in a tight bear hug lifting her easily off her feet. "Serenity! How?"

"Oh, Joey, I'm so glad to see you!"

"But I thought you weren't coming!"

"We wanted to surprise you, big brother." She explained sheepishly, nodding toward her co-conspirators. The other three looked extremely pleased with themselves.

Tea had her hands clasped in front of her, tears running down her face, stars in her eyes. "Actually, it was all Tristan's doing."

"Tristan?" _Well, that might explain his peculiar absence on Sunday…_

"Hey, I just called in a favor…let's go get Serenity's luggage and blow this Popsicle stand." Thanks to Tea, his cover was blown. He was embarrassed and thought that mentioning Kaiba had footed the bill for this might spoil Joey's mood.

…………

On the way back to the game shop in Tristan's dad's van, everything suddenly caught up to Joey. Serenity was _not _his sister. His happy party mood dissolved as he started to shake and sob uncontrollably.

"Big brother, what's wrong?" Serenity wrapped her arms around Joey in an attempt to calm him down.

His mother had abandoned him because Serenity was her only child. Maria Wheeler had never really loved him. He had no family, no home, nothing. He didn't even have a name. Who was he? Well, he had an answer to that at least -nobody…nobody at all. Despair engulfed him.

Tristan pulled the van over and slid into the back with the others. "Jou? Hey, man, talk to me."

Joey threw himself into the taller boy's arms and buried his head in Tristan's chest.

"Calm down, Joey. You're scaring your sister." Tristan sounded calm, but he was pretty scared himself. Blood and biology aside, Joey was his brother. "It's okay. I've got you."

Jou pushed away from Tristan as soon as he settled down a little. Tea handed him some tissues from her purse.

"Thanks, Tea." Joey sniffed.

"No problem. Are you okay?"

Joey looked around at the worried faces surrounding him meeting the eyes of each one briefly before turning to Serenity. He took a deep breath. "I talked to Dad's lawyer today.

I was adopted, Serenity. I'm not really your brother."

"That's not true, Joey. You'll always be my big brother. I love you and that's a stronger bond than anything written in some legal mumbo jumbo. It's not blood that makes you my brother, it's love."

"Yeah, what she said." Tristan agreed.

"B-b-but I don't know who I am. I don't have a family, home, anything. All I've got is a bunch of friends that pity me because I'm such a pathetic loser."

"Joey. Look at me." A demanding voice cut through the blonde's self-pitying blather.

Joey met the fuchsia gaze of the pharaoh.

"No one here pities you. You are anything _but_ a loser. You have everything you need-your wealth is in your friends." Having thrown in his two cents worth, Yami retreated and allowed Yugi to continue. "Weren't you listening to your sister, Joey? We all feel that way. _We're_ your family."

Joey felt like a bigger charity case than he had ten minutes ago. He wanted to crawl under a rock until he felt like he could face the world again. But hey, since when did he back down from a fight? Never, right? He wasn't about to start now. So he smiled through his tears and gave his friends a thumbs up. Reassured, Tristan continued driving to the game shop.

……….

After they arrived and settled in, Serenity offered a black duffle bag to Joey. "Here, big brother, I brought you something."

"It better be food, Serenity. You know Jou, the bottomless pit." Tristan joked trying to get things back to as normal as they could be under the circumstances.

Joey jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow. "Thanks, sis, but you shouldn't have."

"Well, Joseph, are you going to open your gift?" Solomon asked.

"Yeah." The first thing Joey pulled out was a box of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Tristan instantly mad a grab for the cookies, but was chastised by the look on Serenity's face.

Next, Joey pulled out a Red Eyes Black Dragon plushie that caused a round of 'Aaah, how cute!' and an equally cute blush on Joey's face. He pulled out a nicely stocked toiletry bag, a pair of black jeans, a pair of midnight blue silk pajamas with crazed-looking Kuribohs printed on them, and a black muscle shirt with a beautiful Red Eyes on it. "Sis, I don't know what to say. Thanks. You're the best."

A couple of hours later, Tristan, Tea, and Serenity left for the night. Joey was more exhausted than he knew it was possible to be. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day, Yug. We should probably get some sleep."

…………

Tuesday.

The funeral was a closed casket service. Joey knew his father's remains were in the wooden box, but refused to think about how much of his father's body was left after having an apartment building fall on top of it. He sat through the service in numb shock. He couldn't think about his future, he could barely concentrate on taking one breath after another as one minute crawled into the next.

Jonathan Wheeler was the only father he had. The concept of another man having actually contributed to his gene pool was as alien to him as trigonometry. They had been so close. Home had always been where Jonathan Wheeler was, but he had gone where Jou could not follow.

Finally the cemetery service drew to its inevitable conclusion. People started moving away, talking in groups, or drifting over to Joey and Serenity to offer hollow condolences. It was surreal on a beautiful spring day, a day full of hope and the promise of new beginnings. Joey felt completely dead inside.

He noticed a limo parked away from the other vehicles. A pickup pulled away. A tall, lean, all too familiar figure rested against a tree. Arms crossed over his chest, he virtually radiated an attitude of being above all this nonsense. A hot, sickening rage boiled in Jou's gut as the two boys locked eyes and then Kaiba moved off, returning to his limo in long effortless strides revealing something that took the blonde's breath away.

Highly polished and looking as if it had just been rolled off the showroom floor was a beautiful emerald green Harley Davidson motorcycle. Jou's motorcycle. Tears burned hot trails down Joey's cheeks. It wasn't just the sight of the bike itself, but also the act of compassion behind it that brought Jou back to life. Kaiba saved his bike from the flames and returned it to him at the exact moment he needed it most. The limo pulled away and the spell that rooted Jou to the spot was broken. He went to his bike and caressed it like a lover.

Tristan had been pretty involved with giving a sobbing and emotionally distraught Serenity his support while Jou was lost and distant and incapable of helping anyone, least of all himself. But Tristan did notice Joey walk away and saw what had distracted him.

Duke offered his condolences to Serenity a little too profusely, but Tristan took advantage of the moment to dig in his pocket for his keys. As he walked over to Joey, he removed the spare key to the Harley Jou had given him for safekeeping in case he lost his own. Tristan stood by his friend and held the key out wordlessly.

Jou smiled. It was a grim smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Tris, cover for me? Tell Serenity I'll meet her at the game shop later."

Tristan nodded and watched Joey get on the motorcycle and bring the engine roaring to life. Jou was out of here.


	11. Puppy Gets A New Home

****

Chapter 11 Puppy Gets a New Home

A/N: Well, I'm back to Seto torture…talk about two people who are clueless…especially the blonde.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. Someday, I might own a Jou plushie if I can ever find my way back to my sewing room…for some unknown reason I seem to be spending more time at a keyboard than a sewing machine lately…(goes off in deep thought…)

…………

"Well, Croquet, do you have _any_ news for me yet?"Pegasus was peeved. He was used to knowing everything before anyone else.

Croquet held a folder in his hands.

"Are you going to tease me with that folder all day?" Pegasus demanded, perhaps a little too harshly.

Croquet shrugged. "Be careful what you wish for, Maximillion," with that the chief of security handed over the file, bowed, and retreated.

Pegasus' hands trembled. He felt a mixture of tangled emotions. Croquet's cryptic words were a warning that implied his bodyguard believed the information contained in this folder was a mixed blessing. Croquet had always been there, watching Pegasus suffer, doing damage control, but unable to prevent the numerous disasters his boss managed to encounter.

"Christopher," Pegasus waved his hand, signaling for his bodyguard to come back.

Pegasus was seated at the head of the long table in the elegant dining room. He slid the folder to the left because he knew that was where Croquet would appear. He tended to favor the left because he was all too aware of Pegasus' blind side. Pegasus had not been able to actually _see_ out of the Millennium Eye; even if it had granted him amazing powers that had not been one of them. And now it was gone…

"Sit down, Chris." Croquet did as he was told and laid his hand on the folder as if to keep its untrustworthy contents inside.

"You're wary of this information. Why?" Pegasus asked without looking at Croquet. There was no point. Neither Croquet's face nor his body language would tell Max anything; yet, he sensed the waves of apprehension coming from the older man.

"You've already met your son, Sir." Croquet paused to allow his words to sink in. "He participated in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. His current circumstances are somewhat…unstable. But the real problem is with those he associates with. He has every reason to have a vendetta against you and may have even been involved in the theft of the Millennium Eye."

Pegasus raised a skeptical eyebrow at Croquet and with a fluid movement retrieved the file. He opened it without hesitation.

Joseph Cecil Pegasus

Joseph Jonathan Wheeler

Joey Wheeler

He closed the folder quickly.

"Leave." He ordered Croquet.

Pegasus sat as still as a stone statue in silence.

………….

Joey rode for a while enjoying the feel of the powerful machine under him and the wind ripping through his suit. His mind filled with thoughts of Kaiba. Kaiba who liked to make Jou grovel like a beaten dog, Kaiba who tried to shatter Jou's confidence in himself at every available opportunity. Kaiba who, for some reason known only to the Ice Man himself, followed Jou home after a humiliating and confrontation and used his choppers to save innocent lives from the inferno that had once been Joey's happy home. Now it was time to find out what the dragon master wanted.

The tall iron gates to the mansion were standing wide open as if in expectation of an invited guest so Jou invited himself to the front door. Before he could reach for the doorbell, the blonde was tackled by something chest-high with spiky black fur…er, hair.

"Mokuba?"

"Joey, I'm so sorry about your dad. I begged Seto to let me go see you, but he kept telling me you'd come to us when you were ready. I'm just sooo glad you're okay." The younger Kaiba brother gushed in a single breath.

"It's cool, Mokuba." Joey couldn't help smiling at the kid. He was so completely different than his older sibling.

"Mokuba, are you going to invite our visitor in?" Speaking of the older sibling…cool and calm as always, Seto Kaiba smirked from the entryway.

"Oh yeah. Come in, Joey."

"Don't you have homework, Mokuba?" Seto asked, making it clear that he wanted to speak to Jou alone.

"Yes, big brother." He left sounding disappointed.

Seto stalked off in a different direction without indicating anything to Joey about following him. He just assumed puppies normally followed their masters…although his arrogance also covered his surprise and delight that Jou was actually _here_. Now if Seto could just pull this off without screwing up and revealing his true feelings to the mutt…

He led Jou to a three-season porch furnished in antiqued wicker. From here there was a view Seto wanted Jou to see. A large swimming pool, semi-disguised to look like a natural part of the surrounding gardens, complete with a diving board, a lazily twisting water slide, and rope for swinging out over the pool, effortlessly dominated the Zen gardens while a wide stone path wound its way through the backyard. But all of that was only eye candy for what Seto really wanted to show Jou. A long low building with a second floor that covered perhaps a third of the roof with an outdoor flight of stairs leading to a balcony and sliding glass doors was set into the background behind the lavish gardens. The building was a garage. Over it an apartment had been built to house surveillance equipment, a security guard, and a chauffeur before Gozaburo's death. It now stood empty.

"Uh, Kaiba, I just wanted to stop by and thank you for my bike." Jou felt awkward and he was a little distracted by the view. Kaiba had so much he didn't appreciate and yet he was smug enough to flaunt it in the face of someone who had lost everything…

Kaiba nodded and decided now was the time to put his offer on the table. "Jou, we need to talk."

"Aaah…come on, Kaiba, I just left my dad's funeral. I appreciate you saving my bike and all, but I'm not really in the mood for one of your speeches."

Seto tensed, this wasn't going well. "Aren't you curious to know why I was at your apartment?" _Great…why don't you get down on your knee and propose already, idiot! _Seto grumbled at himself.

But Jou merely shrugged, not noticing the miniscule plea in Seto's voice. "Haven't thought about it. I guess I've had other things on my mind. How am I supposed to know what goes on in _your_ head? I'm just a dumb mutt remember? Maybe you thought of some new insults to throw at me. I've given you enough new material. Look, I should leave before this gets ugly." His short temper was getting the better of him and he wanted to walk out of here with some shred of dignity intact. He didn't have much else.

Seto sighed and tried to relax. "What do you think, Jou? Would you like to live here and work for me?"

"As what? Court jester? Do I amuse you that much? Is that why you wouldn't just let me die in peace?" Kaiba's eyes widened in surprise, "Yeah, I know all about that little tantrum you threw in the emergency room. Were you afraid you'd have to find a new dog to abuse? Yugi told me all about it! He thinks you want to be my friend! How wrong is that? Come on, Kaiba laugh it up! Don't you think that's just the funniest thing you ever heard?" Jou snarled having lost the battle with his anger.

Kaiba winced inwardly as Jou's words fell like lashes on his already scarred heart. Why was he letting the mutt get the best of him? Oh, yeah…the mutt had always had the best of him. The mutt was just too dense to see it. Yugi-now that was a different story.

"Yugi is right." Kaiba responded evenly, making a tremendous effort not to get defensive.

"What? You're admitting your worst enemy is right?" Joey laughed hollowly; choosing to ignore the meaning in Seto's words, because thinking about them might cause him to black out again.

"He's more of a rival than an enemy." Seto corrected. "There's an apartment over the garage, Jou, you'd live there. I'd have you drive the limo, mostly for Mokuba, and I'd expect you to keep him company while I'm working. He resents having a bodyguard or a babysitter and frankly, I don't blame him. But he wouldn't see you in that light. He'd see you as a friend. There may be some odd jobs here and there, too. I keep only a very limited staff. There is always something that needs taken care of-errands to run, vehicle maintenance, landscaping, and the pool."

"You're serious." Joey finally realized feeling light-headed.

"I have two conditions." Seto added.

"What?" Well, this couldn't be good…

"The first is that you maintain an acceptable GPA."

"What's acceptable?"

"At least 3.0."

"No way! I can't do that! I'm barely passing most of my classes!"

"Except for art and p. e. I know. That's why you need a tutor."

"And you're going to be that tutor?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"You will be celibate."

"What! You're out of your fricking skull, Kaiba! Even my dad didn't try to control my personal life! You've got absolutely no right!"

Seto hadn't really thought Jou would consider living here, even without the second condition on which he wanted Jou's promise for entirely selfish reasons.

"I will not have my brother exposed to your particular perversions!" Good thing he had a scapegoat…

"Now wait a minute! Now you're calling me a pervert! I knew all you wanted was to mock me! Like I wouldn't be careful!"

Seto had restrained his temper long enough. "I know exactly how careful you can be, Wheeler! I won't have Mokuba looking for you, say, at the game shop, to find you with a 'customer's' cock in your mouth!" He growled.

"You bakayaru! What exactly are you implying? That I'm some kind of gigolo?" There was some truth in that, but indignation and raw emotions overrode reason and Joey lunged catching Seto off-guard in his midsection and knocking the air from his lungs. They rolled on the floor and somehow Jou ended up straddling Seto with one abused, stiff hand raised in a fist when Mokuba walked in.

"Big brother, I'm done with my homework…" He stopped mid-sentence when the full impact of the scene before him sank in.

"Good going, Mutt!" Seto hissed, pushing the blonde off of him and rolling to his feet. "It's okay, Mokuba. Jou's just having a bad day. Was there something you wanted?"

"You…you said I could have a friend over to play video games if I got my homework done early enough…" Mokuba stammered uncertainly.

"Yes, you may." Seto said soothingly.

Mokuba ran off as if his life depended on it. Kaiba glared at Joey who still sat on the floor staring at his hands in shame. "Uh, is your offer still open?"

Seto felt weak in the knees and leaned into a table for support while trying to look menacing. The puppy was actually willing to stay here with him and his brother?

"Yes." Seto responded coldly, which was the opposite of how he felt…

"Okay. I accept."


	12. Funny Bunny On Patrol

****

Chapter 12 Funny Bunny on Patrol

A/N: Pure Pegasus kawaiiness ahead! An almost, but not quite, totally pointless chapter.

………..

The following Saturday.

Pegasus sat on the beach; his long silver hair tied back in a black ribbon and dressed in khaki shorts with a short-sleeved white shirt unbuttoned at the neck. He stretched out his long legs and dug his toes in the sand as he silently appraised the easel before him.

The ocean view served as a backdrop, but the painting's model shifted uneasily on a rock. Croquet was honored that Master Pegasus wanted to paint him, even if he was uncomfortable. Pegasus had caught up to him as he finished his morning run. His gray hair was a sweaty disheveled mess and his ratty T-shirt was soaked through. He was hardly in a fit state to be painted.

"Hmm…it's done." Pegasus declared, apparently satisfied.

Croquet got up and stretched. "May I?"

"Oh…of course, Chris."

Croquet took his standard position at his boss' left shoulder. His jaw dropped and his clear gray eyes went wide.

"What do you think, Christopher? Should I have it hung in my study or perhaps, the dungeon? The dungeon is so drab, it could use some brightening up." Pegasus asked dryly, only his single amber eye gave away his amusement.

"Definitely the dungeon, sir. It'll scare the rats _and_ potential prisoners away." Croquet was as certain of this as he was that the lord and master of Duelist Kingdom was a lunatic, a loveable lunatic, but a lunatic all the same.

"Ouch…you hurt my feelings, Chris. I think I've been insulted."

"_You've _been insulted?" Croquet stared at the painting again. The ocean view in the background, Croquet's running shorts, T-shirt, and sunglasses were perfect in every detail, but the last time Croquet looked in a mirror he had _not _seen a pink cartoon rabbit looking back at him.

Pegasus tried to keep a straight face; his chuckle trapped in his throat was nearly choking him. Finally, he gave it up and surrendered to a hysterical laughing fit while lying down in the sand. Croquet flopped down beside him. He really should have seen this coming. He'd actually encouraged Pegasus' Funny Bunny obsession many years ago. Funny Bunny was only one of the many of Max's favorite ways to abuse Croquet's rock solid sanity. _How sane can I really be, _the bodyguard thought to himself, _when I choose to stay and put up with his eccentricities?_

Several months after Croquet's father had become the head gardener for the Pegasus family, Max had his fifth birthday. Chris was eleven at the time. He had spent most of his short life being dragged to various third world countries by his Christian missionary parents. All the boy had ever known was poverty and tragedy. His mother's death from malaria became the catalyst that sent his father back to modern civilization. Croquet was a simple servant's son, quiet and serious by nature, who often accompanied his father as he went about his work.

From day one, Max had set out to corrupt the older boy and Chris was equally determined to save young Master Pegasus from himself. Truthfully, not much had changed about their relationship in the last thirty-odd years.

Chris had never had the opportunity to watch cartoons. Max had found that simply shocking and set out to rectify the matter at once. Thus, Croquet was inducted into the inane world of Funny Bunny. Max went into hysterical giggling fits that made tears stream down his face over the pink rabbit's antics. Chris didn't get it. He never would. Like so many other things when it came to Maximillion Pegasus, Croquet merely accepted it and life went on.

Young Maximillion was turning five and he insisted that the gardener's son attend his party. His parents tried to gently deter him explaining that it would inappropriate to have a servant's child at his party. Max pouted, he whined, tears filled his honey-chocolate puppy dog eyes. He defiantly put his hands on his hips and told his parents in no uncertain terms that they were unbelievably selfish and they could not possibly love their only child for _if_ they loved him it would not matter that Chris was from a lower class, it would only matter that Max wanted him at his party. Croquet watched the whole scene from his hiding place under Max's bed in total astonishment, awestruck that the silver-haired boy would dare to talk back to his parents.

Max's parents, on the other hand, were quickly becoming aware that there were definite drawbacks to life with an exceptionally gifted child capable of easily outsmarting them. Master Max won that round and most of his future conflicts with his parents as well.

So Chris Croquet attended the birthday party and presented his gift. To him it seemed shabby in comparison to those of the other guests. It was a small stack of Funny Bunny comics and a Funny Bunny plushie. Much to Croquet's mortification, young Master Pegasus made quite the scene by loudly proclaiming Chris' gift the best of all, that only the servant's son truly understood him. And as far as Croquet knew, Pegasus _still_ slept with that same Funny Bunny plushie.

As soon as Pegasus recovered from his attack of the giggles he grew somber. "Chris, I'm going to retire from Duel Monsters, officially at least. People seem to think that after the unfortunate conclusion of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament that I've gone into hiding or have become an invalid or died. There is even some speculation in certain chat rooms on the Internet that I've been abducted by aliens…It seems that the timing is right. I've simply lost interest."

Croquet frowned. The loss of interest in the very thing that had kept Pegasus going all these years was frightening.

"Perhaps, I'll see about buying the rights to Funny Bunny. I'll put Industrial Illusions to work producing new comics, new cartoons and at last he'll be mine!" Pegasus laughed a little evil laugh at his latest, greatest plot, vainly trying to reassure Croquet that all was well. The chief of security didn't seem to be buying it. The industrial illusionist couldn't help being disillusioned with life. "I can't bring her back, Chris. Maybe it was always impossible. Maybe the combination of the Millennium Eye and my grief made me a little insane trying to hold on to her all these years. Everything I've done, everything I've become was for her. Somehow I find it exceedingly difficult to accept that it was all for nothing. But I have to let her go. I have to move on with my life, Chris, and I don't know how."

There was nothing Croquet could say, no words to comfort Pegasus in any way. Croquet squeezed Max's shoulder hoping that through his touch he could convey his support. Pegasus reached up patted the older man's hand accepting the gesture.

"What are you going to do about your son, Max?"

"The only father he's ever known died just a week ago, Chris. He may not even know he was adopted. I can't just go up to him and say, 'Joseph, you're coming home with me because I'm your daddy.' He'd hate me more than he probably already does. He needs some time to grieve. I should know." Pegasus smiled weakly.

Croquet nodded his acceptance, his expression stoic, yet his master's willingness to live the rest of his life as an eccentric recluse startled him more than he was willing to admit. Pegasus loved being at the center of attention, master and commander of whatever realm he happened to occupy at the time. It was obvious to the chief of security that his boss still needed time to recuperate from his long coma.

"Come now, Christopher, why so glum? We have a canvas to consider. I think it should be hung in the North Tower…"

Croquet stared at him in horror. The North Tower was security headquarters. He would _never_ hear the end of it if he didn't convince Pegasus to put the damn thing somewhere else. Maybe the crypt? It could keep the skeletons company? "No, Sir. With all due respect, well… I doubt the men would appreciate the artistic value of …uh…" Pegasus had that look on his face, the look he always gave his parents when he was determined to have his way, the look that told Chris he was doomed. He gave up. "As you wish, Sir."


	13. Chapter 13 Moving Day

****

Chapter 13 Moving Day

Warnings: Seto has a mental lapse, mild swearing, slight lime flavoring…

……….

At 5 a.m. Saturday morning, Seto Kaiba woke up. Over the years his body's natural alarm clock had become a fine-tuned precision instrument. At 5:01 a.m., he groaned. His pajama pants were a gooey mess.

"Disgusting." He muttered. Perhaps _parts _of his body weren't quite as fine-tuned as he would like. "Damn, Mutt!"

If he'd been surprised when Joey tackled him on the three-season porch on Tuesday, he had been thunderstruck when Jou actually agreed to his terms. He would have done a happy dance on the spot had he not been so busy trying to maintain his icy demeanor. When he told Mokuba the news his little brother was ecstatic and did a happy dance for both of them. Seto got to keep his dignity, so it worked out nicely.

Seto had custody of Joey until his graduation from high school. The very thought that the mutt now belonged to him tended to turn Seto on. He got into the shower with a wicked little grin on his face thinking of the celibacy agreement. After the incident at the White Tiger, Seto had nearly gone off the deep end with jealousy. And damn it, the puppy was his! If Seto couldn't have him then nobody would have him!

Seto was well aware that he was gorgeous and women and men alike gave him appreciative stares. If sex was all he wanted he could have a different lover every night and never find the satisfaction he craved. The confident arrogance he wore like one of his trench coats in the business and dueling arenas completely vanished when he was confronted with social situations. He covered it well with masks of disdain and coldness.

Gozaburo had shattered him on some deep level of his psyche where he had come to believe he truly didn't deserve companionship, compassion, and love. Damaged by wounds still unhealed, insulting taunts had become the only way he could handle the intense emotions he felt for Jou. Instinctively, he knew he needed a level of intimacy that went beyond mere sex. He needed someone who didn't give a damn about money or titles, someone who could look beyond the name and empty social standards of what was proper and respectable, someone who could love him just as he was, brokenness and all.

It would take someone extraordinary to stand toe to toe with him and not be overwhelmed. Seto wanted Jou to be that person, yet as big a heart as the puppy had, Seto doubted that even Jou had the capacity to love him. Seto knew rejection would probably send him into the darkness Gozaburo created in him forever. He was exhilarated by the possibilities. He was terrified by the probability. He was walking a high-tension wire without a net.

He got out of the shower, got dressed, picked up a box and headed over to Joey's apartment. He had some work to do there before his estate was invaded by the gang of teenagers he knew would be arriving in a few hours. Jou had audaciously asked Seto if he could invite his friends over for a pool party today. The idea of having his estate trashed by a bunch of rowdy teens didn't exactly appeal to Seto. He hated parties. But Seto understood that getting together with his friends would be good for Jou, a way to relieve the anxiety and stress of the past week. Mokuba was thrilled with the idea and Seto relented making it clear to both boys that this was a one-time deal.

The apartment was utilitarian. One large room served as the kitchen, dining room, and living room. The wall opposite the sliding glass doors had three doors-the center one was the bathroom and the two on either side of it were bedrooms. Seto had the apartment spartanly furnished-stove, refrigerator, kitchen table and chairs, a futon, computer desk and office chair, twin bed with a matching dresser, linens and dishes. Jou's school and chauffeur uniforms, along with his new books had arrived yesterday.

Kaiba went to work on installing a cordless phone and a computer into which he had loaded the tutoring programs he had designed originally for Mokuba. He needed to test the network and Internet connections. Seto was so focused on his task that when a pair of hands suddenly dropped on his shoulders he nearly jumped out of his skin.

Seto whirled around in the office chair, grabbed Jou by both hands, stood quickly and pushed the blonde into the table. _Sneaky baka inu! Who knew he could be so quiet?_

"Ow! You damn jerk!" Jou snarled, tears stinging his eyes. "Let go of me!"

Seto released him so abruptly that Jou would have fallen if the table had not been behind him.

"Don't ever sneak up on me again!" The dragon master commanded in a low, threatening growl.

"I wasn't exactly expecting you to be here. I rode my bike right up to the garage! I wasn't sneaking!" Joey cradled his hands against his chest. Blisters had been roughly torn open leaving raw skin exposed. He went to the sink feeling uncertain about turning his back on the CEO and ran cool water his throbbing hands.

On the day of his dad's funeral, at the point of Jou's deepest despair, Kaiba had offered hope. Now he just stood there staring at the blonde, dumbfounded and clueless after being so insensitive. Jou turned the water off and turned to face Seto. "I can't stay here. I made a mistake. I had the stupid idea that we might be able to tolerate each other."

Jou shook his dripping hands in front him and Kaiba's eyes grew wide with horror. Joey's _hands_-mostly second and some third degree burns. He let his anger at being caught by surprise completely blind him. For a genius, he could sure be an idiot…

Jou walked to the door.

"No. Don't go. Do you have something for your hands?" Seto asked.

"In the bag on the balcony." He watched Seto warily, like a wounded animal, as the brunette dug into all of his worldly possessions. The first thing Seto pulled out was the Red Eyes plushie. He set it aside without comment. "There's ointment and painkillers in the toiletry bag."

Seto found the ointment and the pills then reached for Joey's hands. The blonde backed away from him.

"I'll do it. Don't even think about touching me!" Jou snapped and grabbed the ointment and pills. He shook two of the painkillers into the lid and swallowed them dry. He tried not to notice the sadness in the normally cold blue eyes, but his anger was slipping away from him anyway.

"Jou, look…I forgot about your hands. I didn't expect you to come up behind me like that…"

"Good grief, would it kill you to say 'I'm sorry'?"

An awkward silence ensued between the boys.

"Yeah, I thought so." Joey snorted. "It's been real." He slipped an arm through his bag and headed for the door again.

"Where do you think you're going?" Seto demanded gruffly.

Joey stopped and took a deep breath. " I feel sorry for you. You just don't get it, do you? This won't work out. You're too demanding, too controlling, and too damn cold. Other people have feelings and just because you don't, it doesn't give you the right to walk all over the rest of us like we're ants or something. You may own this town, but you don't own _me_."

"Are you finished?" Seto asked in a very normal icy voice. "Jou, I'm sorry. I screwed up. Now get your butt back in here."

Joey sighed and did as he was told. He was too tired and too emotionally drained to put up much of a fight. Seto led him to the furnished bedroom, took the ointment back from Jou and set his bag on the bed. He took one of Joey's hands in his own and started applying the cream, rubbing it in with his fingertips. His touch was delicate and light, gentle for all of Seto's harshness. He finished one hand and proceeded to the other one.

Joey was still wearing his biker's jacket. It had given him some protection in the fire and although it was scorched, he couldn't bear to part with it. Seto reached out for the zipper. Jou stiffened, but didn't resist. This was becoming a strangely awkward and erotic situation.

"Jou, why are you here so early?"

"I couldn't sleep." The blonde mumbled.

Slowly the zipper traveled down its track.

"Couldn't wait to move in?" Seto smirked slightly.

"No. Nightmares."

The zipper finally reached the end of its track. Jou tried hard not to think about the hand on the zipper pull or where that hand was at. Seto moved away.

"You'll need to do the sleeves too." Jou said in a strangled voice and held his arms up indicating the other zippers. Seto carefully took Jou's wrist and pulled the zipper down toward Jou's elbow and then went to work on the other sleeve. Joey had a fleeting thought that Kaiba might be enjoying this…then the jacket was loose and Jou shrugged it off in an oddly graceful move.

Seto watched the blond in fascination. Jou was wearing his black Red Eyes muscle shirt. Jou definitely had the muscles to show off, his entire upper body was masterfully sculpted.

"Kaiba?"

"Nice shirt." Seto mumbled, suddenly realizing he had been staring. He made a hasty retreat into the main room. At this rate he wouldn't be able to maintain his icy composure around the Jou-pup for long. Seto gathered up his tools and the box, preparing to leave.

"Your phone is hooked up. If you need anything, dialing '9' will get you the house." And with those brief instructions Seto left.

"What the heck just happened here?" Joey asked the empty room.

He scooped his dragon plushie off the table, glanced at the computer displaying the annoying Kaiba Corp logo as a screensaver, and collapsed on the futon with Red Eyes still in his arms. The last thought he had as he drifted off to dreamland was, 'Sure, Kaiba's attractive, but his personality ruins his looks…'


	14. Chapter 14 The Gang's All Here

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Chapter 14 The Gang's All Here

A/N: My stepbrother just got back from Afghanistan. He showed us a home movie on his laptop of a little terrier dog being…uh, intimate (?) with a Pikachu plushie, the dog couldn't get enough of the little yellow pokemon…Uh well, I think I've fulfilled my perversion quotient for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own Yugioh, don't own Pokemon…the boys have enough Pokemon merchandise you'd think they owned it though…

…….

Joey woke up later to the sound of giggling. It seemed that while he slept the party had arrived and now the near empty living space of his new home was filled with teenagers.

"What's so funny?" Jou asked.

"It's just…" Yugi started with a snicker.

"You look…" Tristan looked embarrassed.

"So adorable…" Tea continued.

"All snuggled up…" Mokuba added.

"With your teddy bear." Serenity finished.

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Uh…it's a dragon." Bakura corrected softly.

"Aaahhh…" They all chorused together and then practically fell all over each other in a giggling fit.

Joey frowned, not awake enough to have a clue and then he realized he still had the plushie clutched in his arms.

"Ack…!" He threw the dragon across the room as if it might bite and it bopped Mokuba on the head.

"Hey!" The ebony-haired boy cried indignantly.

"We brought you a housewarming gift." Tristan said slyly.

"Mai?" Jou grinned at the lavender-eyed girl. Mai blushed faintly.

"No, you dolt." Tristan grabbed the poor abused plushie dragon and smacked Joey over the head with it.

"Okay, okay! I give! Give me my dragon!" Tristan whacked Jou again, and then made a run for it as the blonde charged at him.

"Are they always this…juvenile?" Mokuba asked wide-eyed.

"Yep." Yugi shrugged.

The two boys were out on the lawn by this time. Joey was screaming, "Give me my dragon you numbskull!" And Tristan taunted. "You gonna make me?" and "Is that all you got?"

Meanwhile, the imperious Seto Kaiba had stepped outside to check on the uproar. The two insane teenagers didn't notice him. Tristan flew right past Seto, but Joey had the misfortune to trip and stagger headfirst into his newly appointed guardian who, unprepared, in turn lost his balance…

****

Splash!

And fell right into the pool. Jou froze in shock, still dry, still poolside, staring at Kaiba standing waist deep and fully clothed in the swimming pool. In that moment the handsome, dignified CEO looked like a drowned cat having a bad hair day with a temper to match.

"Uh…Joey?" Tristan gasped.

"What?"

"_Run_!" And the two boys did.

The others watched the whole thing play out from the balcony, watched as Kaiba climbed out of the pool and stalked back into his house with water streaming everywhere.

Out of breath and gasping for air in the main room of the apartment, Joey and Tristan leaned into each other. As soon as they could breathe they were laughing so hard tears streamed down their faces.

"That was _so_ mean!" Tea scolded. "You didn't see if he was okay or apologize or anything!"

"Hey, it's okay." Mokuba grinned. "Big brother needs a little excitement in his life!"

"What about that housewarming gift?" Yugi asked, desperately wanting to change the subject.

"Oh yeah. It's in the back of the van. Come on, guys, let's go get it." Tristan was out he door and the others followed gamely.

Tristan opened the back door of the van and there sat a new freestanding punching bag complete with Seto's face taped on it.

"Okay, if this is some sick inside joke, I don't want to know." Mai stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait until Seto sees this!" Mokuba giggled. The guys all laughed.

"How can you guys be so rude?" Tea snapped. "Kaiba has done nothing but try to help you since you lost your dad, Joey, and this is how you thank him?"

"Hey, Tea, chill out. It's just a joke. Joey had one identical to this in his room before…before…" Tristan trailed off looking at his best buddy who had gone sheet white.

"It's great, Tris." Jou smiled affectionately. "Why don't you guys take it upstairs? I gotta go check on something." Joey headed off toward the house.

Mokuba started to follow him, but Yugi put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Let him go."

……..

Once Jou was inside the mansion he was lost. He bumped into Liz who was the fulltime housekeeper; in her mid-fifties she had a matronly air.

"Can I help you, Joey?" She smiled, knowing he was lost.

"I was looking for Kaiba."

"He's in the library." She motioned for Joey to follow her. "When would you like to have lunch served?"

"Um…" The blond was caught completely off guard by the question. Food. He hadn't even thought about feeding his friends. What was the matter with him? Oh yeah, his entire life was literally turned to cinders a week ago. "I guess whenever you're ready to serve it?"

"We'll have the buffet set up at noon by the pool. Here you are." She indicated a large wooden door, bowed and left.

Joey knocked on the door.

"Come in," was the gruff response.

"Uh…can I talk to you for a minute? If I'm bothering you, it can wait."

"Too late. You've already bothered me. Get in here."

Joey wondered if there was something slightly suggestive in Seto's voice or if he was just imagining things…He stepped into the room. Large, it smelled of leather and old books, dark, with a cast iron spiral staircase that led to a second and third tier of shelving. Two narrow walkways encircled the upper levels of books that extended to the ceiling. A circular stained glass sunroof in a kaleidoscopic pattern made Jou dizzy.

"You wanted something?" Seto asked irritably. His damp hair needed restyling, but he had gotten into a dry set of clothes, and was in true Kaiba form.

"Do you spend a lot of time in here?" Jou asked out of curiosity because other than the laptop on Seto's antique mahogany desk this room could have come straight out of the previous century.

"Only when I need to concentrate on important business matters." Seto answered him icily.

"Oh." Jou said completely missing the hint. "About earlier…"

"Yes."

"I wanted to apologize. I know you weren't expecting me so early. I'm sorry for scaring you." As soon as he said it, he knew he had made a poor choice in words.

"You-did-not-scare-me! You-do-not-scare-me-nor-will-you-ever-scare-me!" Uh huh, Kaiba the Rock…live from fantasyland…but his voice carried a threatening edge. Jou would never know the difference.

"Then why did you attack me?" Joey retorted. He came here to make peace with Kaiba; did he have to make it so hard?

"Attack? I didn't _attack_ you!"

"What do you call grabbing my burnt hands and shoving me into the table?! Playing?!" Joey snapped getting defensive.

"I do not play. I work." Seto told him pointedly.

"Maybe you should play once in while! Oh, I forgot. That might prove that you're a mere human, not some arrogant CEO with a superiority complex!" Jou snapped.

Seto frowned and with a major effort maintained an emotionless façade. "I may have overreacted in your apartment. Are you satisfied? Can I get some work done now?"

"Overreacted?!"

"Look, you pushed me into the pool. We're even."

"_That_ was an accident!" Joey growled.

"So was grabbing your hands!" Seto snarled back.

They glared at each other from across Seto's desk, two testosterone driven males squaring off in the silence. But as suddenly as their sparring match began it was over. This was not what Joey had come here to do.

"Why is it that we want to kill each other every time our paths cross? Can't we call a truce already? I don't even know why you'd want me here, but if I'm gonna stay, we've gotta reach some kind of understanding." Jou reasoned.

"You don't want to be here, do you, Jou?"

"No." Joey wasn't going to lie to him.

"Then why did you agree to it when you could have moved in with Yugi or Tristan?"

"Child Services didn't approve Yugi's household and Tristan…well, I don't like bumming off my friends. If I hadn't come here, I would have ended up in a foster home."

"And I'm not your friend? Or is it that I have so much that you don't care if you bum off me?" The dangerously slippery ice returned to Seto's voice.

Jou began to realize just how bad a case of foot in mouth disease he had. "I didn't mean it like that. You're twisting my words. You offered me my own place to stay, a job-a way I could maybe earn my keep without feeling useless. I would have stayed with Tristan, but his dad would flip out if he ever found out that I'm…" He stopped, a blush blooming on his cheeks. He had babbled his way into another corner in his rush to defend himself.

"Gay." Seto supplied.

"Yeah."

"Does Tristan know?"

"Of course he knows. That's why he's so darn protective!"

"Oh." It hadn't occurred to Seto that maybe there was more to Jou and Tristan's friendship than a tendency to turn each other into an idiot.

Jou sensed the direction Seto's thoughts were traveling. "No, no, no. It's not like that! He's madly in love with my sister!"

"What about Yugi and Tea?"

"Huh? Well, they like each other, they just haven't figured it out yet."

Seto actually laughed a genuinely amused laugh. Joey cocked his head surprised by the deep musical sound. "No, you silly puppy, do they know you're gay?"

"Oh." Joey was blushing again. "No."

There was a knock on the door. Mokuba stuck his head into the room. "Big brother, lunch is ready!"

"Okay, Kuba. We'll be there in a minute." The ebony-haired boy was gone in a flash.

"Are you going to come swimming this afternoon?" Joey asked.

"No." The blue-eyed teen answered flatly.

"Please? I'll give you a kiss…" Jou batted his eyes at Seto. He was just teasing, but the look on Seto's face was scary. Seto Kaiba, the Ice Man, blushed, it was a faint blush, barely there and gone again, but a blush nonetheless. "I'm gonna find the food!" Jou exited hastily before things could go anymore twilight zone on him.


	15. Chapter 15 Pool Party

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Chapter 15 Pool Party

A/N: In this chapter I mention the scene from the anime that inspired the idea of Joey being Pegasus' son. Pegasus just seemed so impressed by Joey and so proud of him-just like a father would be.

Disclaimer: I don't own Aquafina, etc., etc…ho hum.

Acknowledgements:

Sora Kohaku: Thank you for your suggestion. I've changed my settings to accept unsigned reviews, although if I receive any flames I will probably change it back. This story is reposted from a year ago and when it was taken down by the site I had well over 300 reviews.

markyc58: Thank you for acknowledging my effort toward adding a bit of realism to my fic. I, too, have lost a parent. Maybe it shows?

Flame Swordswoman: Thank you for all of your comments. I have a tendency to reject the image of Jou as a complete idiot. He has too many moments where he shines to be an airhead.

Katwings: I am so not a genius, that's my beta's department! LOL. Thanks for the compliment though.

KiKyo-87: I've taken my time developing this storyline, so I admit it takes a while to get to the 'meat' of the story. Sit back, enjoy the ride, and I'll try to make the updates as quick as possible.

Bloodmistress: I'm glad you're enjoying my 'little' fic. I don't remember exactly which chapter it is that Joey finds out who his dad is, but it seems to me that it's a few chappies down the road. Hang in there. I'll see if I can make my updates a bit quicker.

………….

Pegasus finally returned to his sanctuary. In this tower room he had locked himself away with his hopes, dreams, and fantasies. He faced the portrait of his lady, the enchantress of his heart. "Lady Pegasus, I found him. I had actually already met him. Ironic isn't it, my love? I recreated Duel Monsters and through the game was introduced unknowingly to our son. He placed second in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. Amazing really. Everyone thought he was a nobody, hanging on Yugi Motou's shirttails. But he is an exceptional duelist. He doesn't even realize it. A day will come, my love, when he will knock us all on our keisters-Kaiba, Yugi, and I. Of the three of us, only Kaiba will pout. Hmm…of course, he'll do it with storm clouds and lightning bolts and then stalk off to sulk…

But Joseph…oh, Cecelia, you should have seen him duel against that despicable Bandit Keith. I was so proud of him. I knew Keith was cheating, but I didn't interfere with the duel. I wanted to see how Joseph would fare against the scoundrel. Every trick, every strategy Keith came up with Joseph deflected like a pro. I told him to be proud of that victory, yet I am certain the words sounded hollow to him, spoken as they were by the enemy.

He dueled for his little sister, you know, to win the money to save her eyesight. Our boy is beautiful, Cecelia, loyal and generous, my eyes, your hair…when he was tiny, I told you that he would take after you and he did. Oh my darling, what am I going to do? He already despises me…I'm actually quite afraid for him to discover that I'm his father. He may hate me, shun me, want nothing of me…But what truly worries me is this-will he hate himself as well?"

………….

Kaiba followed Joey out of the mansion a few moments after the blonde had skittered off like a spooked housecat. He wore a white polo shirt and a pair of blue and white Hawaiian print swim trunks. He surveyed his domain with his usual disdain. But the teenaged invaders of his estate had at least enough manners to wait for the appearance of their host before devouring the food.

"Hey, Seto's here! Let's eat!" Mokuba announced with _his_ usual exuberance.

The teens filled up on their host's generous spread of edibles, laughing and joking while munching down. Seto sat a bit off to the side, he was a loner, but he never felt more alone than he did when he was surrounded by Yugi's crew.

If not for Mokuba's unlimited enthusiasm, the teenagers probably would have contented themselves with an afternoon siesta. Mokuba would have none of it. He ran into the mansion, swiftly changed into leopard print trunks, and upon his return headed for the rope. He swung out over the center of the pool doing his best Tarzan imitation and initiated the older teens with a healthy spray of water.

"Oh, I am so going to get you for that!" Joey exclaimed and bolted for the apartment so he could change into his trunks.

Twenty minutes, one disappearing host, and several changes from street clothes to swimming attire later, Joey and Tristan let a sputtering, giggling Mokuba up for air after his third dunking. The three girls were attempting to sunbathe with their white skin exposed for the first time that season to the April sun.

Serenity squealed when Tristan's strong arms scooped her up. He had intended to throw her into the pool but one look in her wide surprised eyes made him reconsider. He sat down on the side of the pool instead with Serenity still on his lap and dangled his long legs in the water.

Jou, however, was not so merciful. He snuck around the two lovebirds who were too wrapped up in each other to notice the impending danger. A quick lunge, using his forearm instead of his hands and the happy couple was not quite so happy.

Joey brayed with laughter, thoroughly pleased with himself. Mai came up behind him and whacked him over the head with the magazine she'd been reading.

"Joseph Wheeler…!" She began, but was cut off when he picked her up and she made her own undignified entrance into the pool.

Jou turned to Tea. Two girls down, one to go…

"You wouldn't." She said.

"Wouldn't I?" He smirked and then chased her around some lawn furniture before coming face to face with his sister.

"Joey, what has gotten into you?" Serenity demanded with her hands on her hips. For a moment she looked and sounded just like their…no, _her_ mother and it burst his bubble.

He shrugged and headed for the diving board.

"Joseph! Do you have any idea how much time and money I spent on my hair and manicure? Now look at me!" Mai screeched.

Joey paused and looked at her. Beautiful as always, lovely lavender eyes…he had a real soft spot for them…Roger's eyes, Yugi's eyes, Mai's eyes…He knelt on the side of the pool, brushed one strand of wet blonde hair out of the way and kissed her on the forehead.

"Aaah…Mai, you shouldn't have gone to all that trouble for me…" And then he was flying head first into the pool himself.

"How's that for just desserts?" Tristan asked him when he came up for air. The others laughed and cheered Tristan on.

Joey mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and swam to the nearest ladder. Bakura lounged at the side of the pool and watched the other teens' frivolous antics. The smile on his face was not an altogether pleasant one.

Jou finally made it to the diving board and executed a perfect double back flip off of it, hitting the water with barely a splash. He got several appreciative looks for his performance, not least among them, Seto's. He watched the whole thing from his surveillance cameras in the basement. For a klutz, Jou had a masterful command over his body when he wanted to. For a gay male, Jou had a definite attraction to a certain pretty blonde female. Seto scowled. He just could not figure that boy out. Could he be bisexual and not even realize it? Seto wondered how he was going to be able to maintain his charade with the puppy right under his nose.

That was when Seto realized Mokuba was looking directly into one of the cameras posted outside the mansion that overlooked the pool. His little brother had a too thoughtful expression on his face. _Busted! _And then Mokuba started walking toward the mansion.

Seto tapped his fingers on the table trying to decide if he should let Mokuba confront him or just head out to the pool. He knew if he got into an argument with his brother over this he wouldn't win. He sighed and went to go meet him.

……….

Bakura and Tristan were thrilled when Mokuba left. They hadn't been too sure they were going to be able to implement their plan without getting caught. They headed back to the van and came back with what appeared to be six 1-liter bottles of Aquafina. They stealthily approached the five-gallon coolers of lemonade and fruit punch and dumped the contents of the water bottles into the coolers. Tristan didn't ask how Bakura got his hands on so much vodka and he didn't want to know. Bakura just seemed too nice to be a devil in disguise.

Mai had set up her portable stereo and cranked up the tunes. She and Tea exchanged fancy dance steps and tried to coax Serenity into joining them. But Serenity was a little intimidated by the adventurous blonde amazon and the talented brunette dancer.

"Ah, go on sis. It can't be that hard." Joey encouraged her. "Look, even Mai can do it."

"Joseph, I want to see _you_ do it! Get over here!" Mai demanded.

Jou shrugged, really how hard could it be?

………..

And that was how, when Seto joined the party, he found Mai, with a lavender sarong tied around her itty-bitty purple polka dot bikini, dancing in Joey's arms. So with his scowl in place, Seto got a glass of punch and wondered what Tristan and Bakura were up to as they sat on lawn chairs next to the coolers snickering and drinking lemonade out of water bottles…

Tea had finally gotten both Yugi and Serenity coaxed out of their shyness enough to try to coach them in the dance moves Mai and Joey picked up easily. Glancing at the two blondes Tea couldn't help but smile. They looked so good together. Tea knew Mai had a crush on Joey, but Joey hadn't figured it out yet. _Boys! They're so clueless! _She thought in exasperation as she wistfully watched Yugi dance with Serenity.

Mokuba was getting a little bored and went after his own glass of punch. He ignored the two characters keeping watch over the coolers and got his brother another glass of punch too. He sat down by Seto on the side of the pool. Both brothers idly swung their feet in the water.

"Are we having fun yet?" Seto scowled.

Mokuba quickly gulped down his fruit punch and began to feel strangely warm, almost like he had a fever. He watched Seto finish off his second glass of punch and the casually leaned over and using his hand like a rudder majorly splashed his stuffy big brother.

"Mokuba!" Seto yelled and then suddenly, with a complete lack of warning, the blue-eyed billionaire was back in the pool. He turned in time to catch Mokuba and Joey do a high five. "Mutt! That's twice today you've pushed me into my own damn pool!" Seto growled.

"Yep! You're slipping up, Kaiba. I've gotten the best of you twice today! Next thing you know I'll have _you _whipped at Duel Monsters! Go me!" Joey did a happy little jig.

Mokuba joined the two already hysterical teens at the coolers in their non-stop laughing marathon.

"Dream on, you scruffy, mangy excuse for a flea bag! If you don't want to end up on the streets you better learn some respect for your master!" Seto's anger was a bluff. He actually felt a little giddy, warm, tingling, and more than a _little_ turned on by the idea of giving his puppy some obedience training.

Jou cocked his head trying to decide if there was a real threat in Seto's words or not. The blue-eyed boy had a look on his face that made the idea of being a stray on the streets sound appealing…"Ah, come on, Kaiba, the puppy just wants to play." Jou whined, calling Seto's bluff.

Seto stared into the honey caramel eyes, warm, sweet, yummy…and stripped off the drenched polo shirt wondering what fool turned the thermostat up so high on the pool. He threw the shirt squarely into Joey's well-toned chest. It made a satisfactory slapping noise against the luscious bare skin.

"Well, get in here and play then." Seto invited with one eyebrow raised in challenge.

For a split instant Joey just held onto the shirt on the brink of running for the hills, then he threw the shirt down and looked to Mokuba for backup. "Come on, we're gonna dunk your brother!"

"Cool!" Mokuba was there faster than he could say 'holographic technology'.

By the time they dove in Seto had swum to the other side of the pool where Bakura was now dancing with Mai, Tristan had reclaimed Serenity, and Yugi and Tea had drifted over to the coolers. Seto thought that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to crash Joey's party after all. At least he had gotten the puppy away from Mai.

And then Joey and Mokuba had him surrounded. Seto brought his hands up about shoulder high, palms out, and easily pushed both boys away with a firm outward thrust, his hands connecting with their chests. Mokuba was giggling too much to be very resistant to the sudden move, but Joey was more determined. He recovered quickly, dove under the water, grabbed Seto around the waist and pulled him under.

Seto squirmed away as quickly as possible, wanting to keep certain parts of his anatomy from coming into contact with Jou. Not that he really would have minded, it just would have blown his rather shaky cover.

"Tristan Taylor! What did you do?" Tea shrieked. Yugi cringed at her sharpness.

"Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Tea?" Tristan slurred.

"You're drunk." Serenity stated simply. "That's what she's talking about."

"You spiked the drinks?" Yugi gasped.

"Actually, 'Kura got the booze." Tristan answered.

Seto's brain was working a millisecond or so slower than normal. It registered with him that this was the reason he felt strange and that Mokuba had a glass or two of the doctored drinks as well.

"This party is over!" He announced loudly in a furious deep rumble of a roar. "Mokuba out of the pool now!" Seto glared at Yugi as if somehow this was all his fault. "I want you to pack up your friends and be off of my property in five minutes."

By the time he was done giving orders the lavender eyes had turned fuchsia, Serenity was sobbing in Tristan's arms, and Joey wasn't sure who to pummel first-Seto, Tristan, or Bakura.

"Kaiba, I want a word with you." The Pharaoh sounded calm, but his eyes were sending off dangerous sparks.

"Yami. This is my property! No one said anything about bringing alcohol onto it!" Seto growled.

"Damn you, Kaiba," Joey hissed as he climbed out of the pool.

Everyone else headed back to the apartment after gathering up their belongings. Mokuba headed for the mansion and didn't stop until he reached his room, his mind filled with a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. Things had been going so well. Seto had actually been socializing and now everything was ruined. His brother would never agree to having Joey's friends over again.

Outside, Seto got out of the pool and towered over Yami.

"I don't disagree with you, Kaiba." Yami told him, not allowing a mere matter of a difference in height phase him. "The party is over. Tristan and Bakura were wrong to do such a thing behind your back. However, Joey and Serenity just buried their father. Your total lack of tact has only added to their misery." Yami turned his back on the angry CEO and walked away with Joey at his side.

………

When it was time for supper Seto called the apartment and invited Jou and Serenity to join he and Mokuba. Not surprisingly, Jou declined. They were having a pizza delivered. Seto was about to hang up when Joey stopped him.

"Kaiba, I don't blame you for being angry at Tristan and Bakura. They were just goofing off. They didn't mean any harm." Joey sounded more tired than anything. "Thanks for offering us supper, but since Serenity is leaving tomorrow and I don't know if or when I'll see her again, I just want to spend some time with her, so maybe another time?"

"That's fine, Jou. You will see her again. You have my word."

Although Seto couldn't see it, his promise made Joey smile from ear to ear. "Thanks, Kaiba. I'm really sorry about earlier."

"It wasn't your fault. Can we just forget about it?"

"Yeah. Hey, I gotta go."

"All right." Seto hung up feeling a little stunned by the conversation. No arguing, an apology, a possible dinner date for another evening, progress…wow.


	16. Chapter 16 Horse of a Different Color

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Chapter 16 Horse Of A Different Color

Warning: Jou grows a brain!

****

………..

Sunday 3 a.m.

Joey was snuggled into his new bed with his little sister who wanted to stay as close to him as she could for as long as possible. He dreamed the same dream he had for the last eight nights. Fire, smoke, terror, loss, a glimpse of a blonde beauty in blue silk, the Pharaoh striding out of the darkness-strong, powerful, and mysterious, the whirring of helicopter blades, a hazy night sky, Seto's arms and a whispered, "Hang on, Puppy."

Jou woke up at that point, just as he had every time he had the dream-sweaty with stinging hands and short of breath. He slipped away from his sister and padded out to the balcony barefoot.

A movement in the mansion caught Joey's eye as he stood there. A light was on in a second story room. _Kaiba's room_, Jou thought, _it has to be_. _Kaiba, now there's a guy I just can't figure out. He runs hot and cold quicker than you can flick a switch. He puts me down every time our paths cross, treats_ _like a disgusting piece of trash_, _and to top it off, has the bad timing to walk in on me while I'm sucking another guy off. And then on the other side of the coin toss, it was the Ice Man who tried to shield me from Pegasus and followed me home like the stray puppy he's always accusing me of being after I was humiliated at the White Tiger. He saved my bike, used his choppers to save people he cares nothing about, and then opened his home to me. I thought he despised me. Even hated me, he's made me feel worse than worthless often enough. So why is he doing this?_

Yugi thought that in some distorted cruel way Kaiba was trying to reach out to Jou, was trying to make friends with him. The pieces didn't quite fit…The sound of choppers filled Jou's head again, the smoke induced hazy sky…Kaiba's arms around him. All the bizarre things that happened yesterday, Kaiba's tender touch putting the ointment on his hands, the way he had unzipped Joey's jacket, the tension in the room, the blush in the library when Jou had teased him with a kiss…The hurt in Kaiba's eyes when Jou told him at the White Tiger that he was to cold for anyone to want him, to love him…

Joey's stomach rolled, "Oh my gods…he's in love with me!"

He turned and ran for the bathroom suddenly sick. A moment later, Serenity was at his side "Big brother, are you okay?"

"Yeah, sis. I just had a bad dream." And a waking nightmare…"Go back to bed, Serenity. I'm fine, really. I think I'll just lay down on the futon."

Serenity wanted to protest, but didn't. Being a dutiful little sister, she trotted back to the bedroom, grabbed a blanket and a pillow and put them on the futon. She kissed her brother on the cheek. "If there was something wrong, you'd tell me, right?"

"Sure." Joey hugged her. "Now go to bed. We have to get up in a few hours."

After she went back to bed, Joey laid awake on the futon for a long time. What had he gotten himself into? For the second time in less than 24 hours, he really wished he hadn't agreed to live here. Joey adored Mokuba. The kid was hard not to like and he fit in so well with the rest of the gang, but the older Kaiba brother was a horse of a different color.

Joey thought in time he and Seto Kaiba _might_ become friends in a loose offish sort of way. But he didn't believe they would ever be close, not the way he was close to Tristan or Yugi; certainly not close enough to have any kind of intimate long-term relationship. Just thinking that Kaiba could possibly want that kind of a relationship with him made Joey's stomach knot and his head hurt. He felt more like a charity case now than before. He felt like he was here under false pretenses, taking advantage of Kaiba's feelings for him when he had nothing to give back in return.

And what would happen if Kaiba ever came on to him? Joey had a low resistance threshold when it came to sexual encounters. And then there was that celibacy agreement…had Kaiba used that in some sort of vain attempt to try to keep Joey for himself? Grrr…Kaiba was certainly sexy enough with his beautiful cerulean eyes, dark hair, alabaster skin, strong lean build, and cat-like grace. Purrr…

The problem was, pretty as Kaiba was, Kaiba was still Kaiba-harsh, cynical, bitter, rude, calculating, and cold. Jou had few illusions that the CEO would change, Joey wasn't attracted to him, and he certainly didn't want to get emotionally involved with a glacier.

………..

Sunday 1 p.m.

Joey sat on a kitchen chair in his nearly empty apartment drumming his fingers idly on the table. He and Tristan had taken Serenity to the airport earlier that morning and despite Kaiba's promise, he still felt sick about being separated from her again.

He was bored. There was nothing to do here. The punching bag was stored in the spare bedroom until his hands healed and he couldn't access the computer until Kaiba got here and gave him a login name and password. He would be really glad when he had some money coming in. He thought longingly of his entertainment center at the Sennen Elephant Apartments.

"Oh, this is so not going to be fun." Jou muttered to himself.

He was having his first tutoring session with Kaiba this afternoon. Jou could think of plenty of other things that would be more fun than being stuck in here with Mr. Ice, especially since he had finally figured out Kaiba's…er, strategy? Joey had more than enough stress in his life without worrying about Kaiba's hormones. Having an ingrown toenail removed or having a root canal or a tonsillectomy all ranked higher on the fun factor scale than being alone in a room doing homework with Kaiba…Jou went to the balcony in time to see his tutor striding up the stone path, briefcase in hand, dressed in midnight blue from head to toe with his standard glare firmly in place.

"Daydreaming again, Mutt?" Joey's blue-eyed walking nightmare asked standing directly in front of him a few moments later. "Are we going to stand here all day?"

"Um, no." Joey moved aside to let Kaiba pass.

His guardian set the metal briefcase on the table. "I convinced your teachers to assign you extra credit so you would have the opportunity to improve your scores this term."

"Oh." Great. More work. Jou was less than enthusiastic.

"You will have this entire week to get caught up before I expect you to start working for me and I expect you to keep up with your current assignments as well." Kaiba continued.

"Um." Okay, whose bright idea was it to chose Kaiba for his guardian?

"My chauffer, Andre, will let you know what will be expected of you as my driver Friday evening. On Saturday, you will work with Philip, the landscaper. On Sunday, if your schoolwork is completely caught up and I find it satisfactory, you may do as you wish."

"That's really generous, Kaiba." Joey said shakily feeling like he should bow down on his hands and knees, kiss Kaiba's boots and praise him for the kind and benevolent master he was most definitely _not_.

"No." Kaiba said irritably. "This is generous." He handed Joey a debit card. "$2,000 will be deposited into your account on the first of each month. It is up to you to manage that money wisely. You have $2,000 available to you now."

Joey stared at the piece of plastic in shock. "Thanks, Kaiba. I'll pay you back, for this and everything else somehow. I promise."

Kaiba snorted. "You'll earn it. Now sit down." He pointed to the chair in front of the computer desk. "Your login name is Puppy."

"No way!" Joey protested.

"Do you need me to spell it for you?" Kaiba smirked.

"Grrr…"

"Your password is Kaiba Corp. Once you've logged in you may reset it to whatever you wish, just don't forget it."

"Oh, I won't." Jou grinned suddenly feeling evil. "Uh, could you turn your back or something?"

Kaiba looked perturbed, but turned around so Joey could type in his password. Didn't the mutt realize he could retrieve it if he wanted to? He was the network administrator after all.

Jou typed in _Kaibascrush _for his password wondering how long the brilliant CEO would wait until his curiosity got the best of him and he retrieved the password. He wondered what Kaiba would do once he found out what it was or if he would do anything. "Okay."

Kaiba came back. "Now this is how this works…"

…………

Three hours later, Joey had a new profound respect for the brain in Seto Kaiba's skull. Sure, he was a jerk, but what an amazing jerk. Kaiba's tutorial program was, well, ingenious. It was fun and educational and could easily become addicting. Kaiba had incorporated duel monsters into the program giving it the feel of a video game while at the same time walking the user through whatever problem he faced step by step and yet did not freely give solutions away. Just like a duel, you had to plan your attack and defense and decide on the best move to make. Somehow it made everything so much easier to understand.

Seto stopped typing on his laptop. He had brought it to the apartment in his briefcase. "I want to see what you've got done."

Joey took his work to Kaiba. "You designed that program for Mokuba didn't you?"

"Yes." Kaiba answered without looking up from Joey's papers.

"Why haven't you commercially marketed it? It's really, really amazing."

"The market isn't large enough to make it a viable product." Seto recited as though he were quoting from a business manual.

Jou took the statement apart, translated it, and put it back together. Kaiba _had_ tried to market the program, but his board of directors vetoed it. "Well, what do a roomful of stuffy businessmen know anyway?"

Kaiba smiled wryly. "You know, Pup, you're smarter than you look. These are good."

Only Kaiba would wrap an insult around a compliment. Mr. Ice handed him back his papers, closed his laptop and stood to go.

"That's it? You're leaving?"

"I thought you might want to try out your debit card. Be back by 9 p.m. No excuses. You can take the Mustang."

"Wow! Thanks!" Joey could barely keep himself from jumping up and down like a hyper kid on Christmas morning. He might just survive this after all.


	17. Chapter 17 Face Off

****

Chapter 17 Face Off

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot and random assorted original characters.

Flame Swordswoman: I believe I mention Joey wearing the shirt in another chapter as well. And if he must be straight, I totally agree that he and Mai are perfect together. She's my favorite female YGO character, feminine and tough as nails.

****

……….

Nearly two weeks later on Friday, Seto sat in his expansive Kaiba Corp office not seeing or hearing a thing. In the course of becoming Jou's legal guardian, Seto had been informed that his blonde puppy had been adopted by the Wheelers. The identity of Jou's biological parents had been sealed with a lot of red tape by the legal system to protect both child and parents.

Seto and Mokuba's adoption into the Kaiba Empire had taken place under entirely different circumstances. Seto at least knew who his real parents were and had some memories of them. Mokuba didn't remember them, but Seto could tell him about them and the boys still had each other.

Joey was going to want to know about his blood relatives, about his past, and why his parents chose to give him up. With no true family to call his own, Jou was going to want to find his roots and although Seto and Jou had never discussed the issue of his adoption, Seto set himself the task of finding Jou's biological parents. Today Seto found himself hacking into places that, if he were caught, he could go to prison for. He now knew more about Joey than Joey knew about himself…a lot more.

Sickening shock waves crashed into the cerulean-eyed executive with a force he had never reckoned with. Not even Yami's mind crush had forced him to question his motives, tactics, and desires so deeply. He wanted more than anything to unknow the truth, erase it, unmake it. But he had been trained to deal with unforgiving obstacles in a hostile world. He made a few arrangements and locked his office before he headed home.

……….

Saturday morning.

Seto entered the suite of rooms he had reserved for the weekend at Tokyo's exquisite Seiyarou Hotel. He had arrived early, partially because he was a chronic insomniac and partially to prepare for the man he had arranged to meet in these rooms.

He opened his laptop and quickly sent both Mokuba and Jou e-mail messages, crafting an easy excuse of unexpected business and then attempted to concentrate on the work he had neglected the day before.

A couple hours later a tentative knock caused Seto to hastily shut down his laptop. He bought himself a few extra seconds by snarling, "Who is it?"

"As if you didn't know, Kaiba-boy." A melodious voice responded.

Seto opened the door to the ever-resplendent Maximillion Pegasus who was stunning in his dark navy blue suit accented with silver-gray trim. Seto eyeballed the charcoal suit behind the Duel Monsters creator and arched an eyebrow.

"Wendy did a good job sewing your shadow back on, Peter Pan." Seto snorted allowing Pegasus entry to the suite while blocking Croquet.

"Aaah…it's so nice to know you missed me, Kaiba-boy. But you didn't really ask me to come all this way just to trade pretty insults with me, now did you?"

"The bulldog stays in the hall." Seto insisted.

"Oh, whatever." Pegasus waved Croquet off.

"As you wish, Master Pegasus." Croquet glared at Kaiba from behind the safety of his dark sunglasses and assumed a post outside the hotel room door. Seto slammed it rudely in his face.

"You have a son." He turned to the industrial illusionist and accused him without preamble.

"And you have a disturbing lack of people skills." Pegasus observed languorously and invited himself to a lush gold velvet chair. "Is that what has your panties in a bunch, Kaiba-boy? I really don't see what business it is of yours."

While Pegasus remained relaxed and casual, Seto stiffened and bristled. The Kaiba Corp executive continued stating facts. "Joey Wheeler is your son."

"And you're Superman." Pegasus responded, all charm, as Seto's eyes narrowed. "No, really. I heard about how you charged in and saved the day while that apartment building burned. Quite heroic. I would not have thought you had it in you, Kaiba-boy. What is it that you want? A reward for saving the life of my only child…hmmm?"

Seto badly wanted to wipe the smirk off the older man's face with his fist, muss the unmussable silver mane with motor oil, something, _anything _to make Pegasus squirm. "You kidnapped my brother, tried to take over my company, stole both my soul and his, and when that didn't work, you and those Big Five goons tried to kidnap Mokuba again and trap my mind in my own video game. I despise you! Men have died for less!"

Pegasus fussed with the hem of his jacket nonplussed. "I merely _borrowed _your souls. By 'men' you mean Gozaburo, of course."

Seto enacted a Blue Eyes White Lightning attack by moving so fast Pegasus didn't see him coming. Kaiba grabbed the moon-silver-haired man by the lapels dragging him up violently and forced him over to the plate glass window.

"Would you like a demonstration?" Seto's voice turned husky darkened with rage.

Pegasus' single eye betrayed no fear, as if he had fully expected this meeting to become violent. The suite's door crashed open and Seto heard a gun being cocked next to his ear. He let go of Pegasus and raised his hands in surrender.

"I think if you intend to continue this meeting, Kaiba-boy, I shall have to insist that my bodyguard remain in the room." Pegasus held out his open hand revealing a small beeper. Croquet backed up and closed the door. He had his revolver in one hand and the pass card he'd bribed the hotel manager for in the other.

"Please, Seto, sit down. Let's discuss this like gentlemen." Pegasus suggested in a way that indicated his tolerance had worn thin.

Seto was furious at being outmaneuvered by Pegasus…again…and didn't move. Croquet still aimed his weapon at Seto's head. "Master Pegasus told you to _sit down_."

Seto glared first at Croquet and then at Pegasus. He sat down. Croquet lowered his gun and withdrew to just beyond Pegasus' shoulder. Pegasus made himself comfortable in his velvet chair again. He pressed two slender fingers to his temple as if to relieve a tension headache before he met the troublesome boy's eyes again. "Croquet, what in the world does Kaiba-boy mean about my trying to trap his mind in a video game?" Pegasus asked without looking away from Seto.

"Er…uh…"

"Christopher!" Pegasus snapped.

Croquet instantly went into military mode, barking his answer out as if he were responding to a drill sergeant. "Sir, the Big Five came up with an alternate plan to take over Kaiba Corp while you were …indisposed. I sent a team headed by Kemo to assist, sir."

Pegasus pulled long silver tresses out of his face revealing the black eye patch to Seto for the first time. He looked at Croquet with a raised eyebrow. "I will deal with _you _later."

Pegasus turned back to Seto. "What is _your_ interest in Joseph, Kaiba-boy?"

Seto sat there wondering if killing Pegasus might be a good idea after all, but he had arranged this little soirée to get information not commit murder. Best to stick with the game plan for now. "You haven't contacted him yet. Why?"

"Tsk, tsk, Kaiba-boy. You're avoiding my questions." Pegasus admonished.

"I do background checks on all my employees." Seto replied shortly.

"Employees?"

"I hired Jou to drive for Mokuba and do odd jobs on my estate. I am his legal guardian now that his _father_ is dead."

Pegasus blinked in surprise. He missed the Millennium Eye. It was quite awful being the last to know. He was perplexed, but he was a better game master than Kaiba, if only because he'd had more practice, and his face remained serene. "So this is a case of keeping your friends close, not that you have any, and keeping your enemies closer, is it, Kaiba-boy?"

"You asked me what my interest in Jou is. I've told you. Why did you give up your son?"

"I had my reasons. I only found out that Joseph is my son a few weeks ago. You are not the only person to have a traumatic past, Kaiba-boy, but you do carry the chip on your shoulder so well." Pegasus purred.

Seto hated him more with each passing second. Pegasus was so damn smug! "Why haven't you come forward to claim your son?"

"Oh my, temper, temper. Are you worried about losing an employee…hmm?" Pegasus pushed Seto's buttons with surgical precision. He would dearly love to see the great and mighty Seto Kaiba lose control. Once would be quite sufficient, Pegasus was certain it would not be pretty, but it would prove that Kaiba was _human._

"I want to know what you are planning with regard to Joey Wheeler. I am his legal guardian. _He_ is my responsibility." Seto explained in simple terms as the temperature in the room dropped to a blizzard's chill.

__

Seto Kaiba capable of caring about someone other than his baby brother? Pegasus thought in mystification. _Will wonders never cease? _"Does Joseph know he was adopted?" Pegasus asked.

"Yes. Jonathan Wheeler's ignorant lawyer told him before his dad was even in the ground."

Pegasus nodded. "You either want me to take my son off your hands or you want me to stay out of his life forever? I'm guessing it's the latter rather than the former…hmm? Am I right?"

"Yes." Finally they were getting somewhere.

"I also predict that in time Joseph will want to know who he really is. When that time comes, I _will _be waiting, Kaiba-boy. You truly do not have much say in this. The choice is Joseph's. I will respect it. I suggest you do the same."

Pegasus was being perfectly reasonable and even though Seto hated it, he knew Pegasus was right. But there was more on the line here than Pegasus was aware of. Seto couldn't hang with his heart on a string for an undetermined amount of time. He couldn't allow himself to become more attached to the mutt than he already was only to be rejected in favor of his most recent personal demon. Of all the people in the world, why did _Pegasus_ have to be Jou's father?

"Are we quite finished?" Pegasus asked nonchalantly.

"Yes."

"Our paths will cross again, Seto. It's inevitable. And it would be wise to accept what you cannot change." The silver-haired legend told the boy with the cold eyes, speaking from hard won personal experience. Pegasus could only pity him…such potential, such a waste.

………..

Once they were airborne and on course to Duelist Kingdom, Croquet had to ask the most pertinent question on his mind. "Sir, how exactly do you plan on dealing with me? I did neglect to inform you about the Kaiba Corp video game fiasco."

"Yes, you did, Croquet, and since we seem to have some time on our hands you can rectify the matter at once."

"And my punishment?" Croquet pursued.

Pegasus' face lit up with mischief. Croquet had long since learned this was the most dangerous expression in his master's repertoire.

"Are you worried, Chris?"

"I am now."

Pegasus laughed. "Oh, I think the usual will do."

"You're going to lock me in the dungeon and see how long it takes me to escape?" Croquet asked.

"No, no, no. _That_ would be much too easy. No, Christopher, I'm going to allow you to suffer through this with me."

Croquet raised an eyebrow at his boss, but Pegasus was looking pensively out the window, already lost in thought. That he would endure whatever circumstances arose in the one-eyed man's life was a moot point. That Pegasus was unwilling to take the opportunity to 'deal with him' was troubling. Croquet could handle any tactile threats effectively enough, but how did one dispatch the ghosts that haunted one's employer's mind?

……….

Pegasus had gotten the best of him and Seto raged like a trapped animal in a too small cage. He didn't want to lose Jou now, but if he was going to lose him, sooner was better than later. He needed time to think. By the time he went back to Domino he needed to come to some kind of a conclusion about this devastating development and a strategy of how to deal with it.

Seto reopened his laptop and logged into his network. He needed to calm down before he could think rationally. He did a few simple breathing exercises while he waited for the computer to boot up.

He realized he never had gotten around to retrieving Jou's password, but then maybe he shouldn't. He had already pried into Jou's privacy too much…oh well, minor details. What was one more small invasion? It couldn't hurt after everything else he'd done. Even as he was thinking, his hands had gone to work and the mutt's password was revealed.

Okay. He had been wrong. It could hurt. Not only had the mutt figured out his motivation for taking him in, he made a joke of it as well. He snarled as he slammed the laptop closed.


	18. Chapter 18 Mokuba in the Middle

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Chapter 18 Mokuba in the Middle

Warnings: This warning is for Seto Kaiba-Don't leave Mokuba home alone with Jou.

Disclaimer: Ho hum…I don't own any rights to the Yugioh franchise.

………

Early that same morning in Domino, Joey was dreaming of the fire that had burned his heart far worse than his hands.

On the second floor trying to deny the truth that his dad was gone and prepared to slip away himself, he heard a woman's voice call out to him. He reluctantly opened his eyes and found himself in a place of darkness without smoke, fire, or searing heat.

A beautiful woman with eyes the color of the summer sky wore a red velvet medieval gown and a smile. As she approached Jou, he saw a great shape move behind her that blended into the darkness. Apprehension gripped him with icy claws. The lady in red brought the creature forward on a slender gold tether. Jou could hear harsh scraping noises on the invisible floor as the enormous creature moved. Its breath was a hot wind.

"Don't be afraid, Joseph. He's an old friend of yours." The woman's smile was both tender and mischief-filled.

Twin ruby orbs appeared to float in mid-air above Jou's head.

"Red Eyes…" Jou whispered in awestruck wonder.

The majestic black dragon lowered his snout and the golden blonde lady stroked it tenderly. Joey couldn't seem to find his feet so he crawled to his beloved Duel Monster instead. The dragon snorted and nuzzled the boy's face as Jou wrapped his arms around the powerful neck.

"Oh, Red Eyes…I can touch you…" And Joey woke up still feeling the strong steady rhythm of the powerful pulse of the noble dragon's heart.

"Aaah, crap! For once I have a cool dream and I wake up in the middle of it!" Jou complained to the empty apartment.

………

Over the last couple of weeks Joey had settled into his new life. During the first week he spent most of his time catching up on homework. The chauffer, Andre, would retire as soon as Joey was out of school for the summer. The gardener/landscaper/handyman, Philip, reminded Jou of Yugi's grandfather, a bit cantankerous, but very likeable.

The second week, Jou started driving Mokuba to and from school. Kaiba put the silver Mustang in Joey's name sagely telling him that he needed to learn responsibility. Mokuba giggled on the way to school while he told Jou that Seto bought the car for him in the first place. This only made Joey more uncomfortable, but he had to admit it was better than taking a limo to school every day.

Yesterday, Tristan literally fell out of his chair when Joey started explaining a particularly gnarly algebra problem to the class. After class, Tristan grabbed Joey by the shoulders and shook him roughly.

"Who are you? What have you done with Joey?" Tristan demanded. Joey doubled over laughing.

Jou had asked if Kaiba would mind if Serenity spent at least part of the summer break at the Kaiba estate and even mentioned that he would like to take her to the beach for a weekend. A few days later when the three of them were having supper, Kaiba told the two younger teens that they were going on a two-week beach vacation. Jou could invite his friends to spend all or part of it with them as long as Tristan and Bakura minded their p's and q's. He would fly a chopper to the States to pick up Serenity and had already made arrangements with Maria Wheeler, telling her exactly where she could get off when she started to argue with him in his usual tactful manner.

Mokuba immediately ran for the phone to call their private physician and Joey went for Tylenol and a thermometer because both of them were certain that the workaholic, ambition-driven, anti-vacation CEO was seriously ill. Seto scowled at the two of them complaining that Mokuba was always trying to get him to loosen up and then when he did everybody went into a panic. Jou and Mokuba had exchanged looks in silent agreement that perhaps it was in their best interest to just go along with Seto's plans.

Mokuba and Joey had become like two peas in a pod chatting easily about video games, school, and friends. Every chance they had they made use of the swimming pool, goofing off, and generally acting like the kids they were. Mokuba also frequently hung out in the garage helping Joey wash, wax, and detail the already immaculate vehicles. One day Jou even took Mokuba to school on the back of his Harley.

After an initial shopping spree, Joey discovered he didn't really need much money. He bought a stereo and a stereo stand, a few Cds, clothes, and groceries. He usually ate supper with the Kaiba brothers and spent much of his free time with Mokuba at the mansion.

But he was not oblivious to the effect his growing bond with Mokuba was having on Seto. Jou saw the jealous glances Seto gave them when he thought he was unobserved. He seemed to become quieter and more resistant to being drawn into Mokuba and Joey's conversations and activities as time went on. Jou pretended that he didn't see it and that he didn't care or want to reach out to his cerulean-eyed guardian.

………..

He finally rolled out of bed, giving up on recapturing his dream and headed out to the kitchen. Jou discovered Mokuba sitting on the steps with a piece of paper in his hand. He looked upset.

"Hey, Mokuba. What's up?"

"Seto left on a business trip. He didn't say good-bye, or where he was going, or when he'd be back."

Mokuba handed Joey the piece of paper. He read it and then read it again.

__

Mokuba,

I had to leave on an unexpected business trip. Jou will look after you.

Seto

Joey frowned. "Let's see if he left us e-mail."

"I checked mine. He didn't" Mokuba followed the blonde into the apartment.

Jou got into his e-mail account and sure enough there was a message from Seto. The time signature was a bare five minutes earlier.

"I'll bet he's left you a message too." Jou grinned. "He just sent mine." Mokuba nodded relieved.

Jou's message read:

__

Mutt, If any harm comes to my brother while I'm gone, you will be collared, chained, and staked out in the backyard like the dog you are. Kaiba

"Yeah, and he's putting an awful lot of faith in this dog." Joey grumbled.

Mokuba grinned and then, before he could stop himself, he said, "You know he loves you, don't you?" Kaiba's kid brother immediately clamped his hands over his mouth and he tried to hold back the giggles at the shocked look on Jou's face. "Whoops."

"How do you know? How long have you known?" Joey asked wide-eyed.

"Well, I'm not exactly a baby. I'll be fourteen in July. And I've known for almost two years."

"What!? We've only known each other for two years. He hated me instantly!"

"Did he?" Mokuba asked quietly, "Or was it love at first sight?"

"The first thing he said to me was an insult!"

"Joey, you don't understand Seto at all." Mokuba responded sadly. It broke his heart that Seto always had to be so strong, so in control. He had panicked a little at first when he discovered his brother was in love with another guy. The idea of his tough, cool brother being homosexual was a shocking wake up call to Mokuba, but at the same time it also meant that Seto still needed human contact beyond his brother, which was healthy. As Mokuba had gotten to know Joey he began to believe that the blonde was exactly what his brother needed. They were such total opposites and yet they had a lot in common too, tough guy images and bonehead stubbornness, an uncommon love of dragons and Duel Monsters. So Mokuba watched and waited hoping against hope that others would see Seto for himself and not the image he projected. Especially Joey. He hated seeing the two of them in constant conflict and knew that his brother would never make a move on the blonde unless he knew he would not lose. Now that Jou lived on the estate Mokuba hoped it wouldn't take them too long to get on the same wavelength. He kept thinking Jou would figure it out for himself, but so far Seto was just becoming more guarded and withdrawn and Joey spent all of his time with Mokuba. What was a too smart for his own good little brother to do? It looked like he was just going to have to give Seto's puppy a few lessons…

"You're right, Mokuba, I don't understand him. Why don't I scramble us some eggs and you can enlighten me?"

"That would be great, Joey!" Mokuba went to the computer to check for e-mail from his brother and found it. "Seto's in Tokyo. He left the name of the hotel and the phone number. He has his cell phone, but says not to call unless it's an emergency."

"Feel better?" Jou asked.

"Yeah, lots."

……….

Mokuba sat at the table for a long time after breakfast was over and told Joey as much as he knew and remembered of the Kaiba brothers' history. He did okay until he got to the point when Gozaburo turned on the small ebony haired boy.

"I didn't understand why Seto hated Gozaburo so much. I used to get so jealous of all the special attention Seto always got. He was privately schooled at home with special tutors and he got to take a lot of business trips to exotic places with Gozaburo. I had to go to school. I thought it was so unfair." Mokuba sniffed, "And then there was that horrible day…it happened on the third floor of the mansion. That's where our bedrooms used to be…before." Mokuba continued slowly. His prussian eyes were large both with hurtful memories and a fear of Jou's reaction. The consequences of revealing the truth could cause Joey to irrevocably despise his big brother and forever put him beyond Seto's reach. Seto would be mortified if ever found out what Mokuba so desperately needed to share with Joey. He met the amber brown eyes looking for encouragement.

Joey was beginning to realize that Mokuba had a deep and dreadful secret. "Mokuba, you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to, okay? But I'm here if you do want to talk. I swear I won't tell a soul, not even your brother."

Mokuba nodded. "Seto was studying in the library. I'd just gotten home from school. Gozaburo was waiting for me in my room. Later, Seto had the third floor of the mansion sealed. Nobody is allowed up there…could I have a glass of water, please, Joey?"

Joey got it for him and watched as Mokuba gulped it down. He didn't mind that the younger Kaiba was taking his time spilling his guts. Jou had a feeling that once he heard the whole story his perception of the brothers and his own life would change forever.

" I was surprised that Gozaburo was in my room. He wasn't usually home until a little later. He told me that I was worthless and that the only reason I wasn't still in the orphanage was because Seto tricked him into taking me. I said that wasn't true. Seto had challenged Gozaburo to a chess game and if Seto won Gozaburo agreed to take both of us. He slapped me and said that he let Seto win because I would be useful to get Seto to do what he wanted but he didn't need me to get to my big brother anymore…He was going to kill me, Joey, I know he was. Please…you gotta understand that. I think Gozaburo thought if I wasn't around he could turn Seto into some kind of soulless machine." Mokuba sobbed finally able to express his fear and his grief for his brother.

"Okay, Mokuba, shhh…" Joey rubbed the younger boy's back.

"Seto had taken a break. I think he just wanted to welcome me home from school before he went back to studying. I saw him in the doorway just as Gozaburo hit me hard enough to send me flying into the wall. I was stunned, but I wasn't unconscious like Seto thinks I was. I saw everything. Something in my big brother snapped that day and he's never been the same…he hasn't always been so cold and angry…He pushed Gozaburo out the window. He killed our adoptive father, Jou. He was only a little older than I am now. Everyone thought it was a suicide."

Joey pulled Mokuba into his lap and sat on the floor rocking him like a toddler. As horrible as what Seto had been through was, Joey felt that Mokuba had suffered every bit as much. He couldn't have been more than nine or ten when he had been witness to his brother's actions and had never told a soul trying to protect Seto just as much as Seto protected Mokuba, and never truly being able to heal.

"Mokuba, if you ever need to talk about this or anything else, you can come to me. I understand your brother a little better than you think I do. He always does what he thinks is best at the time. We're not going to question his judgment at this late date, okay? He's not a killer. He was just protecting you the only way he knew how. You probably shouldn't tell him what you saw though, not now. Maybe there will come a time when he needs to know, but for now we'll keep it to ourselves."

"Okay, Joey. You know, you're a pretty great big brother yourself." Joey grinned goofily at Mokuba's compliment. After a moment, Mokuba added, "I'm sleepy."

"You can lay down on the futon if you want to." Joey offered.

"Thanks." Moments later the ebony haired boy was asleep.

Jou grabbed a soda from the fridge and went to sit on the balcony. He stared at the third floor windows of the mansion and shuddered. He decided that when Mokuba woke up they would go out for pizza and find something fun to do. After what he'd just heard the Kaiba estate depressed him. He realized he still didn't know how Mokuba had found out that Seto was in love with him.

Philip found him sitting on the steps a few minutes later, lectured him on the slovenliness of teenagers these days and put him to work on mowing the rather too large lawn. An hour later, Mokuba confronted Philip and told him in no uncertain terms that his big brother had given Jou a much more important task than tending the darn yard…namely the tending of Mokuba himself. The boys made a run for it, taking the silver Mustang and escaping into Domino. They hit a local pizzeria first and then Mokuba insisted they go shopping after telling Jou that his apartment was far too drab. Jou thought his charge wanted an excuse to hang out at the mall and look at pretty girls.

But once they were there Mokuba made a beeline for a fairly new store called Gothic Goodness. Jou had a feeling Yugi had spent some time there, making mental notes on how much of the store's inventory was leather covered with buckles.

"Mokuba, why are we here?" Joey asked feeling like he had fallen down a rabbit hole.

"Because Seto won't bring me. They have the coolest stuff in here!" Mokuba demonstrated by holding up a pair of well-ventilated jeans with slashes front and back from knee to crotch.

Joey was pale. Kaiba was gonna kill him for bringing his little brother in here…just figuratively, he hoped.

" What do you think, Joey?" Mokuba held up a silver metallic fishnet midriff shirt with the jeans.

"Uh…"

"Hey! We need to find something for you!" Mokuba dashed in and out of the racks. "Perfect!"

__

Oh no, Joey thought, _who knew a thirteen year old kid could be such a hentai?_

"These would look great with your Red Eyes shirt!" Mokuba exclaimed offering Joey a pair of red leather pants with three sets of black belts with buckles around each thigh. At least they didn't look like they'd had a mishap with the factory shredder.

"If I buy them, can we leave?"

"Sure." Mokuba shrugged. "I'm also sure that my big brother would enjoy seeing you model them."

Now Joey _knew_ he was never wearing the leather pants. He got Mokuba out of there-fast-and decided it was his turn to torture the little ebony-haired imp.

He seldom did any drawing or painting outside of school. His drawing consisted of notebooks full of doodles done during boring classes and the only painting he had ever been satisfied with had burned in the fire. The same dragon that had been his muse for that one had inspired the idea for another. Jou picked out an easel, canvas, brushes and oil paints, plus a sketchbook and pencils. The art supplies were enough to fill the little Mustang to capacity.

Mokuba helped him take everything up to the apartment curious and surprised by Joey's artistic interests. Joey checked his voice mail.

__

"Mutt, where's my brother? Where are you for that matter? If Mokuba gets so much as a paper cut while I'm gone you'll be floating face down in that pool you love so much!" The gruff and grumpy voice cut off.

Joey swallowed hard. "What was it you were saying about him liking me?"

Mokuba snickered as he speed dialed Seto's cell phone number. When he had his big brother on the line, Mokuba rambled on to him about how he and Joey had spent the day, omitting several details of course, and then handed the phone to Joey who looked at it like it was a poisonous snake.

"He wants to talk to you." Mokuba explained.

Joey groaned to himself. "Hi, Kaiba."

"I'll be home tomorrow by 4 p.m. I expect both you and my brother to be there." Seto snapped and hung up.

Joey put the phone back on its base and ran a hand through his thick gold mop. "What makes you think your brother has liked me for two years?"

Mokuba looked uncomfortable. "Uh…I hacked into his computer journal…?"

Joey's eyes got as big as elephant ears. It was a good thing he was sitting on the floor because he would have fallen over if he hadn't been. The very idea of anyone being able to hack anything of Kaiba the Computer King's was beyond hilarious. Jou rolled on the floor laughing. "Y-you…h-hacked…y-your br-brother's…j-journal?"

"Yep, I did." Mokuba said proudly.


	19. Chapter 19 The Revelation

****

Chapter 19 The Revelation

Disclaimer: Do not own and never will, yet these pretty boys are fabulous toys!

……….

Sunday.

Joey spent the morning finishing the mowing and the afternoon in the pool with Mokuba. At 3 p.m., Mokuba went in the mansion to get ready to welcome his big brother home and Joey headed to his apartment. After his shower he pulled on a pair of blue jean shorts and a white T-shirt. He turned on the stereo, built an enormous submarine sandwich and washed it down with a couple of Cokes. He sat down on a kitchen chair in front of his easel and went to work.

The painting was shaping up nicely. It was a detailed close up of Red Eyes and the lady in the red gown. Joey knew he'd seen her somewhere other than in his dreams. Her crystalline blue eyes spoke volumes, mesmerizing and imploring. As haunting as the ghostly spirit she had appeared to be when he first dreamed of her while he'd been passed out in the burning apartment building. Yet somehow he believed she was more than just a dream…

The ringing of the phone startled Joey out of his thoughts. "Yeah."

"Meet me in the library. Now." An irritated voice ordered and the line went dead.

"Urrgh…what did I do now?" Jou grumbled to the half painted lady and her dragon.

………..

He knocked on the library door feeling as though he had been sent to the principal's office.

"Get in here, Mutt." Kaiba snapped.

Kaiba didn't look at him as he entered the room. The CEO sat at his desk with his laptop wearing a white turtleneck, charcoal slacks, and a pair of reading glasses. He took the glasses off, pinched the bridge of his nose and winced. He looked as bad as if he had endured a major tragedy…like Kaiba Corp was bankrupt or Mokuba was in the hospital or Yami had beaten him at another game of duel monsters…

"Hey, Kaiba, you okay?" Jou asked in concern.

Kaiba grunted in answer and finally met Joey's tawny caramel eyes, eyes that could melt the hardest of hearts. Seto knew for a fact.

"Thanks for looking after Mokuba. He suffers from being under virtual house arrest, but in my position I just can't be too careful. He has a great time with you. I know I'm not very good company for him."

Joey frowned. Now he knew something was seriously wrong. Kaiba vulnerable? He suddenly wanted the diamond-hard Ice Man back. Joey walked around behind the CEO who looked as if he had aged ten years in two days. Jou put his hands on Seto's tense shoulders feeling the knotted cords of muscle under the knit shirt. Joey went to work on them, massaging gently but firmly. "What's going on, Seto? What's wrong?"

"Nothing…" Seto sighed and slumped down over his desk giving Joey better access to his back. How Joey had figured out that he was attracted to him Seto had no idea. He couldn't decipher the programming in his Jou-pup's head no matter how hard he tried. He sat in the hotel room in Tokyo shocked by Jou's password and just staring at the computer screen for a long time. Jou had known for at least two weeks that Seto was in love with him and yet Joey was still just Joey, neither rejecting him or accepting him. The blond could have gone out of his way to rub it in Seto's face, but instead teased him about it in a quietly subtle way rather than being a loudmouthed obnoxious mutt about it. Was Jou trying to keep the peace with him because Seto was his guardian or was he simply biding his time waiting to see what developed? Finally Seto had decided that maybe it wasn't a bad thing that Joey knew how he felt; at least it seemed to Seto that the pup was keeping an open mind about it. The blonde's hands on his back felt wonderful and the tormented dragon master relaxed.

Tenuous flames of desire began to lick at Joey as he continued his ministrations. It had been a while since Joey had a lover and he wondered what Seto would be like, what he would taste like, how he would look in the throws of passion and Jou's thoughts went straight to his groin. They had an agreement…but did it extend to Kaiba himself? He had to get a grip. He didn't even know how he felt about his blue-eyed tormentor/guardian.

"Seto?" No answer. Jou leaned over him and saw that the tough CEO was sleeping like a baby. Joey's mouth twitched into a tiny grin. He leaned a little closer, acting as he usually did on instinct without seeking his brain's input on the matter at hand, and let his lips graze Seto's cheek. Just a quick whisper of a taste of Kaiba, a little sample could do no harm, and then he straightened thinking that sleeping on one's desk was not particularly comfortable. How well Jou knew…

"Joey?" Mokuba watched from the doorway, looking first at Jou and then his brother, attempting the nearly impossible task of keeping a straight face. He had hoped that by telling Joey about Seto's past he could soften the blonde up toward his brother and it seemed to have worked.

"Do you think you can help me move him to the couch without waking him up?" Joey asked.

"Yeah."

Joey slid his arms under Seto's arms and Mokuba took his feet. It would have been a fairly simple task had they not had to navigate an obstacle course of furniture. The fact that Seto was so darn _long_ didn't help either. But they managed to make it to the couch without waking him up. Mokuba fished a throw out of the chest behind the couch and covered his brother up with it. The two culprits went out to the hallway.

"Did he say much to you when he got home?" Joey asked.

"No, but he looked terrible."

"I noticed. I wonder what's going on?"

Mokuba shrugged.

There was one more week of school-finals. Uggh. Joey had to go study. "Hey, I'll catch you in the morning, okay?"

"Uh huh. Good night, Joey."

"'Night." Joey smiled.

………..

By 10 p.m. Joey's brain was numb from studying, but he wasn't ready for bed. He headed for the spare bedroom intending to give his punching bag a workout. Seto's scowling taped on face gave him pangs of guilt and he peeled the picture off. There had been a time when it had been an effective outlet for venting his anger at being constantly put down by the Ice Man but rather a lot had happened since then. There was knock on his door and at this hour there was only one person it could possibly be. He threw the picture away and slid the door open to a rumpled, but more rested Seto Kaiba.

"Can I come in?"

Joey nodded.

Seto looked around briefly. Evidence of a hard evening of studying was everywhere. He walked over to the easel, silently examining the half finished painting. Joey came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his guardian's waist giving him a gentle hug.

Seto pulled out of the embrace reluctantly and gazed into the warm chocolate pools of Jou's beautiful eyes. "I want you to pick out some furniture for your bedroom."

"Huh?" Jou didn't know what he'd been expecting, but this wasn't it.

"We're going to get your sister in two weeks. I thought she would like a room of her own. You'll need another set of bedroom furniture." Seto explained.

Joey was a little creeped out. It wasn't what Seto said or the reasoning behind it that bothered the blonde. It was how he said it, softly, almost as if something in his indomitable spirit was broken. "Okay. When do we go shopping?"

"Saturday?"

"That would be great, Seto. Thanks."

"Suddenly you're calling me Seto."

"Uh…I'm sorry, Kaiba." Joey stepped back from him, flustered and embarrassed.

"Don't call me Kaiba!" Seto snapped.

Now Joey was really confused. "What should I call you then? Master? Sir? He Who Shall Not Be Named?"

Seto seemed to consider it. He took a step closer to Joey and Joey backed up.

"Kaiba's not my real name. I was adopted."

"So was I."

"I know."

"You do?"

"I am your legal guardian. I was informed of your circumstances."

Joey pondered this. It made sense. "So what's going on, Seto? I know you're really stressed out about something. You didn't want me to come to the library tonight just to thank me for keeping Mokuba company."

"I did some investigating into your past…"

"You what…? Why didn't you talk to me first? Ask me? What is your malfunction, Kaiba!? You think you're smarter than everyone else and that gives you the right to butt into things that don't concern you!? Treat people like dirt!?"

"You concern me."

"Only because you made me your concern. I didn't ask for this! Any of it! Damn you!"

"I found out who your birth parents are." Seto proceeded undaunted.

"I don't want to know who they are! I'm not ready to deal with this! My dad died less than a month ago. I've lost everything! I already know things about my life that I could've died happily not knowing. I now know why my mom has always hated me and that my sister isn't really my sister! I was starting to get comfortable being _here, _being around you! Don't you force this on me! I don't want to know!" Tears ran down his face as he screamed at Kaiba, begging for mercy from someone who had never been given it.

"I'm sorry, Jou. You have no idea how sorry. I knew someday you were going to want answers. We're more alike than we seem. My parents are dead, but I know who they were and where I came from…"

"I Don't Want To Know!" Joey insisted. In the back of his mind, his instincts were screaming louder than his voice. There had to be some reason why Kaiba was so worked up over this, why he was trying to ram this down Jou's throat. What if he was Gozaburo Kaiba's illegitimate child and had a blood claim to Kaiba Corp? Too weird! But at the moment, with what he had learned of Seto's past yesterday, Jou could see it as a possibility, horrible as it was. It would explain Seto's dramatic reaction to the identity of Jou's natural parents. Joey knew how Seto had reacted when Pegasus had tried to seize control of Kaiba Corp…

"What I found out, it's too important to wait, Jou. I spent the weekend trying to decide what to do…" Seto continued as if he hadn't heard Jou's protest.

"All right! Fine! Spill it!" Joey snapped hotly.

"Maximillion and Cecelia Pegasus are your real parents." Seto told him.

As Joey started to fade out he remembered that this was exactly how he felt when he found out he'd been adopted in the first in the first place and then he fell to the floor like a ton of bricks.

……….

Joey went down so fast that Seto had no time to react.

"Jou?" He checked the puppy over and other than the small detail of being unconscious Joey seemed to be fine. Seto pulled him up and over his shoulder into a fireman's carry and laid Jou on his bed.

Seto wanted to stay and watch over him, but he thought it might upset Joey more if he were still here when the blond woke up. They were as alienated from each other now as they had ever been.

"I _am _sorry, Jou." Seto whispered and left.

****


	20. Chapter 20 I Know You're Out There Somew...

Chapter 20 I Know You're Out There Somewhere

A/N: This chapter is a songfic. I've really enjoyed reading other people's and wanted to try my own. This is where the title of my story comes from. It was not the original name of the fic. However, this is one of my favorite songs and it fits my story so well. The song is by the 60's rock band The Moody Blues. I also have only a vague grasp of Egyptian mythology/religion. As far as I can gather the Ennead were like immortal counselors or judges of the Egyptian gods. Their role seemed to involve the settling of disputes between the gods. For the purposes of my fic, I have used the name for a cult that uses the powers of the Shadow Realm. I'll develop a little more on that plotline as the story continues.

Also, for those of you who are interested in the uncut version of this fic (though both versions are the same up to this point) I have through chapter 41 posted on adult fanfiction net. (I can't seem to get the URL or the site name to post, so you'll have to put it together the way it's supposed to be.) I'm guessing that when this story is complete, it will be about 50 chapters long. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

_The mist is lifting slowly_

_I can see my way ahead_

_And I've left behind the empty streets that once inspired my life_

_And the strength of the emotion is like thunder in the air_

_'Cause the promise that we made each other haunts me to the end._

Pegasus stood on the balcony above the main entrance to his castle. Had this been medieval times he would have addressed his subjects from here. He swirled the contents of his ever-present crystal wine glass with a gentle flexing of his wrist.

A storm was about to break over Duelist Kingdom like a fever observed in apprehension and the lord of the realm had come to greet it. The air crackled with electricity, tense, impatient, but still, breathless, without wind, waiting…waiting.

He had made a promise to himself and his lady that he would find their son. He had completed that task. But like the storm hanging in the night sky, he was waiting. For what he was uncertain-some indefinable something-he would know when the right moment came. It was close, so close…he could almost reach out and touch his golden boy.

Pegasus had watched the Duelist Kingdom Tournament videos and the Battle City Tournament files that Croquet had downloaded for him from the Internet. Kaiba had been so considerate to make his tournament accessible to anyone who cared to follow it.

Joseph had grown into the promise of excellence he had shown as he dueled against Bandit Keith and Yugi Motou. Pegasus had been proud of Joseph's display of talent and raw courage that day, as proud as though he were the boy's father, only to find out that, in fact, he was. Max felt that he should have been able to sense it at the time.

I know you're out there somewhere,

Somewhere, somewhere

I know you're out there somewhere

Somewhere you can hear my voice

I know I'll find you somehow

And somehow I'll return again to you.

Cecelia wandered the unmapped sameness of the Shadow Realm. The concepts of time and space had little meaning here. She knew of the lost mortal souls and the magical monsters that dwelled in this dimension that was neither hell nor purgatory and existed outside the laws of physics, as she understood them.

She missed Maximillion. Although she had been aware of his presence here, the Shadow powers strove to keep them separated. She knew too much about the Ennead and their plans to fuse Shadow and Substance. The ancient cult had long waited to unleash the dark forces of magic upon an unsuspecting world. Max had been chosen to implement the ending of the world, as it had been known. Max could stop it.Their spirits had briefly reunited as the traps and treachery of the Ennead had failed to keep the two lovers apart. Cecelia had done all that she could to both protect and inform her husband with the truth.

For a moment beyond Cecelia's comprehension, her spirit had been pulled into a night of smoke and flame as the mother-child bond magnetically drew her to her dying son. She had managed to intervene on Joseph's behalf, to guard him until that other-made-flesh had come. Joseph had called him Yami; regal and powerful this soul was the prize of the ultimate Shadow Game. Cecelia was only the bait to get Max to draw the soul of the Pharaoh out of his Millennia long hiding place. She prayed to unknown gods that her beautiful husband would find a way to set her free and stop the world of light from being overtaken by the realm of shadow.

The secret of your beauty

And the mystery of your soul

I've been searching for in everyone I meet

And the times I've been mistaken

It's impossible to say

And the grass is growing

Underneath our feet.

Jou was dreaming again-fire, smoke, and a breathless haze. He was crying, "Dad! Dad, where are you?"

He reached the hole where the flooring had given out. He had to know. He had to see. The depths were dark and murky, yet he could make out a still and twisted form-silver hair, red suit, and the glimmer of a gold eye…

"No! You're not my father! It's not true! It can't be true!" Joey woke up screaming, terrified beyond reason. He's was out of his bed, down the stairs, and across the lawn before he even realized he'd moved.

He punched in the security code to the mansion and headed to the approximate location of a certain second floor window where the light was almost always on. He found the room with no trouble; a thin strip of golden light glowed from underneath the door like a beacon. He put his hands against the door and leaned into it with his head.

"Seto, Seto, please let me in!" He cried out, sounding every bit like a lost and frightened child.

The door opened suddenly and Jou fell right into Seto's arms, which worked out nicely for the blond because at that particular moment there was nowhere else he wanted to be.

The words that I remember

From my childhood still are true

That there's none so blind

As those who will not see

And to those who lack the courage

And say it's dangerous to try,

Well they just don't know

That love eternal will not be denied.

Pegasus raised his wine glass in a toast to the moon. "One day in this life or the next my beloved bride and I will be together again. Our love will survive and somehow I will return again to her."

He slipped back inside his empty castle as the storm broke over the island in an amazing natural fireworks show.

Yes, I know it's going to happen,

I can feel you getting near

And soon we'll be returning to the fountain of our youth

And if you wake up wondering

In the darkness, I'll be there

My arms will close around you

And protect you with the truth.

Seto peeked out into the hall half expecting the Ultimate Blue Eyes White Dragon to be charging at the blonde for the state he was in. But there were no three-headed monsters in sight so he pulled the trembling puppy into his room and closed the door.

"I…I had…a…a nightmare…a…about Pegasus." Joey felt like he was about five as his voice broke.

"Well, that explains why I had the feeling you were being chased by a monster." Seto said dryly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come." Jou pulled away, feeling ashamed of wanting Kaiba, of all people, to comfort him.

"Why come to me?" Seto asked quietly, his hands on Jou's shoulders, willing the blond to meet his eyes.

"That night…the night of the fire?" Seto nodded, encouraging Joey to continue. "Well, I keep having this dream…"

"Yes. Go on."

"I'm on the roof of the building and I can hear the choppers…and…" Joey swallowed hard and looked down at his bare feet. He was truly pathetic, scared into a panic by a bad dream. He finally met Seto's depthless blue gaze. "You're there, holding me like you'll never let me go. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you. I feel just like the whimpering puppy you're always telling me I am."

"Jou, I don't know how you could have any memory of that. You were unconscious, but it wasn't a dream. I _did _hold you on the roof that night. You're _my_ puppy and I _won't_ ever let you go, unless you want me to." Confession made, Seto pulled Joey into a hesitant embrace.

Joey sank into his arms willingly. It seemed to him that he had looked everywhere for love. How odd to find it in the arms of the boy who mercilessly tormented him. "Would you hold me tonight? Just hold me? I don't want to be alone."

Seto guided him to the bed and Joey sank into it gratefully. Seto flicked off the lights and joined him letting the blond curl into his long lean body. Joey felt exactly as if he had always belonged there and Seto finally got some sleep.


	21. Chapter 21 The Mist is Lifting Slowly

****

Chapter 21 The Mist is Lifting Slowly

In which Jou becomes suspicious of having been thrown in an AU story by an evil authoress…

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Yugioh franchise….yada, yada, yada.

……..

Joey woke to the sound of a foreign alarm clock and deep blue eyes.

"Sleep well, Puppy?"

"Mmm…"

"I've got to get ready for work."

"What time is it?" Jou mumbled.

"5 a.m."

"Too early. Go back to sleep."

"Can't, Puppy. I've got work to do and you need to go before Mokuba gets up."

"So we're keeping this a secret?" Joey asked him. "It's not like anything happened…"

"I just need to have a talk with him first."

__

Uh huh. Yeah, right, Seto. That baby brother of yours knows more than the two of us combined, Joey thought to himself. To Seto he said, "You know, we could play hooky today…and just stay in bed."

"Now that wouldn't be very responsible now would it?" Seto's reprimand lost its effectiveness somewhere in his smile. Joey had no idea how close he was to giving in, but with an iron resolve he pried his way out of Joey's arms.

Jou wasn't going to give him up easily. He gently, but insistently, drew the brunet closer and gave him a feather-light kiss on the lips. Joey wasn't about to wait around to catch Seto's reaction. He rolled away from the workaholic teen planning to land on his feet on his side of the bed and hit the floor running. But he miscalculated the size of the bed and rolled off of it instead, landing with a loud thud on his backside.

"Jou?"

"Yeah?" He looked into a smirking face. "You planned this, didn't you?" Jou accused Seto.

"Are you okay?"

"Nothing hurt but my pride." Joey made it to his feet and out the door without further mishap.

In his haste to escape the mansion he failed to notice the bleary-eyed boy in red and white striped pajamas at the other end of the hall. Mokuba was slack-jawed with shock, his eyes wide with wonder. He silently slipped back into his room, slipped under the covers and tried to muffle his giggles.

………

At school, the teachers tried without success to impart a last bit of their wisdom to the students before summer break.

Jou went through the day as if it were a roller coaster ride. One minute he was thrilled about his developing relationship with Seto and the next he was depressed because his bloodline connected him to Pegasus.

How could he tell his friends who he really was?

Joey could only conceive of Pegasus being his father in some insane alternate universe, a prank some evil mind came up with complete with doctored documents, something…but it couldn't be true. If he couldn't accept it, then how were his friends supposed to? Especially Yugi. Yugi said they were family, but most families didn't include a lunatic grandpa-soul-stealing relative who was obsessed with pink rabbits and got his jollies from trapping invited guests in his dungeon.

Joey thought about Pegasus' journal. It mentioned that Pegasus had given up his son after his wife died. Every thing the man had done regardless of how crazy it was he had done in the attempt to resurrect his wife. Jou's mother. _Her name was Cecelia and she was beautiful… _If her portrait reflected any of her personality then she was the mother Joey had always longed for.

She was the woman in his painting of Red Eyes…like father, like son-obsessed with painting the blonde beauty…and then it hit Jou. She had been there…during the fire, as he lay on the edge of death, his mother had come to him.

Joey jerked out of his desk, knocked books and papers everywhere. The warm classroom and the droning voice of the history teacher had most of the students half asleep, but they were wide-awake and glaring at Jou now.

"Mr. Wheeler, what seems to be the problem?" Mr. Jones asked.

"Uh…uh, I need to go to the little boy's room." He improvised quickly.

Mr. Jones handed him the bathroom pass with a skeptical look on his face.

Once in the restroom, Joey sighed and sank against the wall. Then he pulled out the cell phone Seto had given him and punched in the programmed number.

"Kaiba."

"Seto, do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Would you get Yugi and I out of our last period class? All we're doing today is reviewing for our tests."

"Why?"

"Because I need to tell Yugi about Pegasus before I get Mokuba."

"Can't it wait until this evening?"

"Seto, I need to do this now, kind of like you _had_ to tell me last night."

"And what am I supposed to tell the school?"

"I dunno. That you need Yugi and I to run an errand for you and it can't wait?"

"Fine." The CEO hung up.

Joey walked back to class and started pulling his stuff together and shoved the mess into his book bag. The school secretary walked in and whispered in Mr. Jones' ear.

"Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Motou? Please come with me." The secretary addressed the boys.

Yugi started, lavender eyes wide wondering what _he_ had done and then he packed to leave the classroom stealing a quick glance at the smirking blond.

"Mr. Kaiba called to have you excused from the rest of your class. He said his errand couldn't wait until after school, Mr. Wheeler, and that you would know what needed to be done." The secretary told them in the hall and then turned on her spiky heels and headed back to her office.

Yugi gave Joey a quizzical look. "What are we doing for Kaiba?"

Jou set off for the student parking lot. "Nothing. I needed to talk to you so I called him when I was in the bathroom and asked him to get us out of school."

"Wow." Yugi responded as they slid into the silver Mustang. "He got you out of school just so you could talk to me?"

"He knows what I need to tell you is really important." Joey said getting a little nervous about revealing his biological father's identity to his best friend.

"What? Are you gay?" Yugi teased.

Joey did a pretty good imitation of Seto's death glare. "Did Tristan tell you that?'

"No." Yugi answered quickly, surprised by Joey's reaction. "Oh. You _are_ gay."

Joey pulled into the middle school parking lot and turned the Mustang's engine off, in frustration he turned to Yugi and said, "That wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about!"

"Oh." Yugi sounded disappointed.

"Now what?"

"What did you want to tell me, Joey?" Yugi asked softly, a tad bummed out.

"You're right. Okay? I am gay." Jou admitted in exasperation.

"Wow." Yugi said perking right back up.

Jou was now freaked. His best friend was way too happy about his sexual orientation. "Okay, Yug, what's going on?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you so happy that I'm gay?" Joey elaborated.

Yugi giggled suddenly understanding. "Oh, don't worry about it, Joey. It's not _me_ that has a crush on you. What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Can Yami physically separate from you?"

"Yes, but he doesn't really like to. He did the night of the fire because he was trying to protect us both."

"Would he be willing to do it now? I'd like to talk to both of you."

Tell him yes, aibou.

Yugi nodded to Joey. There was a flash and then the Pharaoh materialized in the backseat of the Mustang.

Joey reached out and squeezed Yami's shoulder. "Wow. Solid. You're real."

"Yugi, is he okay?" Yami inquired of his light.

"I don't know," Joey answered. "It's a little weird seeing a 5000 year old pharaoh appear out of thin air."

"Point taken." Yami smirked.

"How do you do that, Yami? I mean you have a physical body. How is that possible? Spirits don't have bodies, do they?" Jou asked.

"Hmm…no. But not all spirits have magical powers either. The night of the fire was the first time I had need of a body independent of Yugi's. Somehow in the middle of the crisis I was able to access the Shadow magic that makes this possible." He gestured to his physical form.

"Crisis." Joey nodded. "That might be why she was drawn to me."

"What are you talking about, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"My mother, my real mother, she was there. She kept trying to get me to wake up, to move, but I couldn't and she couldn't touch me because…"

"Because she is a spirit." Yami finished for him. "I saw her too, Joey. She took me to you."

Jou's eyes filled with tears. Yugi was giving himself whiplash trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Kaiba told me last night." Jou whispered.

"Told you what, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Who my birth parents are."

"Really, Jou? Are you going to contact them?" Yugi asked enthusiastically.

Aibou, his mother's a spirit…Yami reminded his light.

"Well, you could get in touch with your real father anyway…" Yugi corrected himself, blushing faintly.

"Jonathan Wheeler is my 'real' father and he's dead, Yugi!" Jou snapped.

Chastised and confused, Yugi looked miserable. "I know. I'm sorry, Joey. I just meant…"

"Yugi, listen to me. You know how tough Kaiba is, everything just sort of rolls off of him…well unless it involves Mokuba. Kaiba found out who my birth parents are on Friday. He took off over the weekend and when he came back he looked like he'd been through a war."

Yugi and Yami had twin frowns on their faces.

"Huh? Why is Kaiba so upset about who your parents are?" Yugi asked.

"Who indeed, aibou." The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle had put the pieces together in short order. He remembered the echoes of a sad love story and the portrait of a lady from Yugi's memories of Castle Pegasus. Not only had the Duel Monsters reinventor had a child he put up for adoption, he was also Kaiba's enemy and the lady in the blue silk gown bore a striking resemblance to the painting…"Your mother's name was Cecelia, wasn't it, Joey?"

"Yes." Now Joey was miserable. "Yugi, do you remember Pegasus' journal?"

Yugi's eyes widened as realization dawned. It could not have been more silent inside the Mustang if they had been dropped into the middle of the Shadow Realm and then…

"You're Pegasus' son!" Yugi screamed.

The bell rang dismissing the middle school students and Yami retreated to his soul room. It wouldn't do to have to explain the sudden appearance of a Yugi look-alike at this point.

Yugi had a look on his face that was a mixture of shock, horror, and complete fury that lasted perhaps a whole second (maybe two). Then he grinned and hugged his best friend.

"Good thing he gave you up or we might never have been friends." Yugi giggled.

Joey hugged him back, relieved. He hadn't realized heavy his burden was until it was suddenly gone. If Yugi was okay with Pegasus being his father then everything would be okay. He let Yugi go only to be met with the infamous Kaiba glare, pint-sized version.

"What's Yugi doing here?" Mokuba pouted looking every inch a rich spoiled brat.

"Uh, well, he's my friend, Mokuba, and we're giving him a ride home." Joey explained, confused and a little angry at Mokuba's rudeness.

Yugi sat there in silence, stunned and hurt, as Mokuba climbed into the back of the Mustang.

"Did you have a bad day at school, Mokuba?" Joey asked. _What was up with the kid?_

"Wait until my brother hears about this!" Mokuba snarled.

"Hears about what?" Yugi asked quietly, just as confused as Joey.

"You…you two!" Mokuba sputtered.

The lights went on for the blond. Mokuba had seen he and Yugi hug and thought Yugi was moving in on territory his brother had laid claim to.

"Mokuba, Seto knows that Yugi was going to be with me when I picked you up."

"Yeah, does he know you guys were going to be making out in the middle school parking lot?" Mokuba asked defiantly.

Yugi turned crimson and as Jou stopped for a red light he felt like banging his head into the steering wheel.

"And after you spent the night with Seto too!" Mokuba continued with increasing volume.

Yugi looked to Joey for an explanation, stunned by this latest revelation.

"Mokuba," Joey growled, "Why don't I just put the roof down and make it easier for you to announce to the whole world that your brother's gay! I'm sure the news media would have fun with that!"

Mokuba abruptly shut up and Joey stopped in front of the game shop. "I owe you both an explanation." Jou began. "Seto came to my apartment last night, Mokuba. He told me that he had found out that Pegasus is my biological father." Mokuba's big violet-gray eyes went humongous with horror. "That's why he was gone over the weekend. I had a nightmare last night and I went to talk to your brother. He let me stay in his room so I wouldn't have to be alone. Yugi and I were not making out. I didn't know how he would react when I told him about Pegasus, but he accepted it like the true friend he is and I hugged him. Do you understand, Mokuba?"

"Oh. I feel really stupid. I'm sorry, Yugi. I just…"

"It's okay, Mokuba. You were just trying to protect your brother. I know how he feels about Joey." Yugi got out of the car with a sly smile and a wink to his friend that said _I told you so._

__

Grrr…Did everyone know that that Seto had the hots for me before I did? Joey wondered to himself.

"Mokuba, is it okay if we stop at the art supply store up the street?"

"Sure, Joey." Mokuba said quietly from the backseat. He felt like a little kid that didn't know anything.

"Mokuba, lighten up. You made a mistake. It's not the end of the world."

"Okay. Joey, is Pegasus really your dad?"

"Yeah, Kuba, I guess so. You think I'd joke about something like that?"

"No. Seto told me you were adopted, but it's kind of…"

"Weird? Unbelievable? Horrible? Shocking? Frightening? All of the above plus some?"

"Yeah." Mokuba grinned.

"I need to get a couple of tubes of paint and then I think we deserve to go on a candy raid."

Mokuba's grin widened. "Cool!"

…….

Mokuba went bounding into the mansion on a major sugar high, ran into the living room and jumped onto the couch where Seto was lounging and trying to read the paper.

"Big brother, you're home early!" Mokuba exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

"Little brother, you're home late." Seto scowled, suspicious of the aura of chocolate that seemed to be emanating from his baby brother.

"We took Yugi home and got some paint and went to Mr. Bulky's and then we stopped at the new arcade to check it out. It's so cool, Seto. We gotta go when we can stay for a couple hours." Mokuba managed to spiel off in a single breath.

Seto reached over for the phone and called the apartment, "Jou, you fed my brother chocolate."

"Yeah, well it was a rough afternoon."

"Really." Seto replied doubtfully.

"Yes, it was."

"If I have to deal with a hyper brother, so do you. It's almost time for supper anyway."

Joey laughed.

"I fail to see the humor in this situation." Seto grumped.

Joey laughed harder.

"Mutt, you fed Mokuba _chocolate_." Seto emphasized as Mokuba turned the TV onto some music videos, turned them up, and started singing and dancing along with them. Seto rolled his eyes. "Your butt is mine."

"Anytime, anyplace you want to claim it, sunshine." Joey chuckled.

Seto turned beet red, glad that Joey couldn't see him and that Mokuba wouldn't notice. He'd better have that talk with Mokuba _soon_. "Supper's at six sharp." Seto hung up, took a deep breath, and yelled so he could be heard over the racket emanating from the TV, "Mokuba, turn that off!"

Mokuba did as he was told and plopped down on the couch by his brother. "What's up?" He asked in all innocence.

Seto fought to maintain his self control as he felt heat rise to his cheeks again. "We need to have a serious talk."

"Oooh…the birds and the bees talk?" Mokuba giggled.

Seto lost out to embarrassment as his cheeks went red against his iron will. Mokuba was less inebriated on vodka…

"Oh yeah, this ought to be sooo good! My brother's going to give me _the_ talk!" Mokuba giggled.

This was not working out the way Seto had planned it. At that moment a still smirking Jou came into the room. He immediately sensed Seto's tension and his grin faded.

"Uh…should I leave?" Jou asked uncomfortably.

"No, Jou." Seto said.

"Joey, Seto's gonna tell me about sex!" Mokuba said bouncing up and down.

"Can I leave?" Jou asked hopefully.

"No." Seto told him flatly.

Joey agreed with Mokuba on one thing though-this should be good. He decided to make himself comfortable on the ottoman.

"That wasn't exactly what I wanted to talk to you about, Mokuba." Seto told him, trying to regain some control over the situation.

"Okay, then what?" Mokuba asked.

"I've sort of started seeing someone." Seto started uneasily looking to Joey for support.

Mokuba looked at Joey and giggled. Joey wanted to crawl into the nearest deep ditch.

"Really? Who?" Mokuba asked.

"Well, the thing is…Kuba, it's another guy." Seto said slowly.

"Yes!" Mokuba jumped into Seto's lap, hugged him and gave him a big sloppy kiss on the forehead. Seto gave him a most bewildered look and Joey hid his face in his hands shaking with laughter he could barely hold in. "I knew you and Joey would get together if I gave him a little push!" Mokuba exclaimed with glee.

"Mokuba!" Seto growled. "What is going on?"

"Uh…nothing." Mokuba said sheepishly.

"Jou?" Seto quizzed the other person present in the room.

"We sort of discussed this on Saturday, Seto." Jou told him.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Seto growled softly.

"Uh…I thought you should handle this your way. He's your brother and I didn't want to get into the middle of a family matter." Joey replied.

"Yes, you did a good job of staying out of it, since you _are_ the middle of it!" Seto said irately.

"Hey, it's time to eat!" Mokuba announced and started to run for the dining room.

Seto snared him by the back of his jacket. "Mokuba, what did you mean about giving Jou a little push?"

"I knew you liked him. I just made sure he knew it too." Mokuba confessed.

Joey covered his mouth with his hand, dreading what Seto was almost certain to say next. Today was certainly a day for confessions…

"And since when do you have the knowledge or wherewithal to play matchmaker for me?" Seto asked.

"I was only trying to help, big brother." Mokuba pleaded.

"What made you think I liked Jou that way?" Seto persisted.

"I…I…"

Joey suddenly realized that Mokuba didn't dare tell him the truth. If Seto had written anything in his journal about Gozaburo, he would know that Mokuba had read it too and that could be devastating.

"Hey, Seto, don't give the kid the fifth degree. He's got good instincts, that's all." Joey quickly threw in.

"Okay." Seto seemed to accept that. "Let's go eat."

Mokuba pulled Joey aside briefly. "Thanks." He whispered and headed after his older sibling.

………

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, exams at school, studying at home. Seto and Jou found themselves mutually avoiding each other, although for different reasons. The pressure between them was tremendous. Jou was still trying to adjust to the idea that Pegasus was his father, let alone had considered what, if anything, he was going to do. Seto made it clear he wanted a definite decision about that particular issue. It seemed that Pegasus had managed to bring their relationship to a standstill before it really got started.

For Seto time itself seemed to be at a standstill. He was also torn about the Pegasus issue and kept his distance as he fought conflicting emotions and desires. It took every ounce of willpower he had to keep his hands off the puppy. He buried his face every night in the pillow where Jou had slept inhaling as much of his scent as he could until Jou's essence completely faded. He caught himself daydreaming at awkward moments during business meetings about how right the blond felt in his arms that night. Seto's hard as nails reputation as a ruthless businessman was crumbling and damned if he knew how to stop it.

Jou spent his spare time painting and drawing. The painting of his dragon and his mother seemed magically inspired. Jou felt almost as though he could reach out and touch Cecelia the way he had touched Red Eyes in his dream. Like his father, Jou had become obsessed with her. If she had this much power from the grave over him, then who was he to judge Pegasus for the enormity of his loss? If he did choose to include Pegasus in his life, he would have to find out more about this woman who had given him life. But would Seto be able to accept Jou's decision?


	22. Chapter 22 Thunder in the Air

Chapter 22 Thunder In The Air

A/N: This chapter, although not particularly long, is a little gooey…Kiddies beware.

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.

……..

School was out for the summer and Saturday had come at last. As soon as Seto saw Mokuba off on his weekend camping trip some of his friends' parents were hosting as an end of school celebration, Joey and Seto were going bedroom furniture shopping. Seto was apprehensive about Mokuba's trip, but Mokuba and Joey ganged up on him giving the cold stern CEO the double puppy eyes treatment.

Joey had finished his painting, cleaned up his messy painting supplies and shoved them into the closet of the bedroom that he would be moving into today. He set up his sketchpad, easel style on the kitchen table, to a yin/yang drawing of Blue Eyes and Red Eyes curled up together. He could hardly wait to get Seto's reaction to it.

He went into the bedroom he'd been sleeping in and pulled on a tan T-shirt to top his camouflage cargo pants and combat boots. Turning, he saw Seto standing in front of the drawing, mesmerized.

"You're very talented, Jou. It's beautiful."

"So are you."

Seto's head snapped up, wary cold blue eyes met Jou's totally open and vulnerable gaze. Seto tensed suddenly on the defensive, not knowing if Joey was teasing him and thus being unintentionally cruel or if he really meant it.

"What are you afraid of Seto Kaiba?" Joey asked as he walked around the table. "That I'll turn out to be just like Pegasus? That I'll take your little brother and betray you?"

"You wouldn't dare." Seto growled menacingly. The fierce Kaiba death glare slipped into place as Jou spoke Seto's deepest fears out loud.

Joey's eyes went wide as he realized that was exactly what Seto was afraid of, afraid that Jou would side with Pegasus against him, take his brother, his company, and his heart, leaving him with nothing. A few weeks ago, Jou knew exactly where he stood with the dragon master or thought he did and he would have told anyone who asked that Seto Kaiba was unbreakable. Now he could see the flaws in the man's diamond hard exterior. Seto was as insecure and vulnerable as anyone else. He pretended not to care, not to need anybody, preferring isolation and coldness to being seen as fallible and human.

Joey had very little in the way of personal property or materialistic ambitions, but he was far and away the wealthier one of the two. And he was hurt and angry. Seto would never be able to trust him. Jou wanted to scream and beat the crap out of the idiot genius in front of him. If Seto couldn't trust Jou then how could he ever really love him? And now that Joey had fallen for Seto it seemed that they would be forever separated.

Jou growled in frustration and spun around to a kitchen drawer. He grabbed the large heavy-duty carving knife he'd had no use for until this particular moment and with all the rage, grief, and confusion that possessed him rammed the knife directly into the middle of the two dragons he had drawn. The knife sank through the sketchbook and into the wooden table below with so much force that the blade broke off and was impaled in the table.

"I was trying to tell you that I'm in love with you! But to hell with it! Better a psychopath for a father than a boyfriend with no more soul than a computer!" Jou spat out.

Seto cringed inwardly but his features were expressionless. "I went to Tokyo last weekend to meet with your father. He's waiting to hear from you. I'll send you the information on how to contact him." He told Jou as if discussing a matter on which he had no opinion. He turned to leave.

"Whoa! You met with Pegasus while you were in Tokyo? Why didn't you tell me? Or did it just slip your mind? This is my _life_ you're messing around in, Kaiba! Just what the heck do you think you're doing?" Joey demanded.

Seto still stood with his back to Jou. No way in hell he was going to let the mutt see him cry. "I don't know." And he walked out the door.

Kaiba's voice as he said those last three words rang with an undertone of crushing loss. It cut through Joey's violent rage like butter. He reached Seto while he was on the first step of the stairs stopped him with a hand on the taller teen's shoulder. "Look at me."

Seto hesitated and then turned, his eyes had become an ocean overflowing with tears. Joey put a hand behind the brunette's head and kissed him slowly, gently, but in a demanding passionate way that told Seto in no uncertain terms that Jou was not about to be denied. Seto gasped and Jou slipped his tongue into the brunet's mouth with practiced ease, yet he'd never experienced a kiss like this, none so sweet or so fiery. It was like tasting bliss itself.

Seto took the one step up so they were both on the balcony and Joey broke the kiss off. He leaned against the siding with his heart pounding almost painfully in his chest. Seto stood over him and put his hands flat against the siding on either side of Joey's head. He might have seemed threatening if his cheeks weren't streaked with tears and he hadn't been trembling from an onslaught of emotions.

"What I feel for you overwhelms me, Jou. I don't like it. I don't like not having control. I don't know how to handle it. I don't know what to do."

Joey put his hands on Seto's waist and pulled the brunette's body against his own.

"Lucky for us _I_ do." He whispered huskily into Seto's ear and rubbed himself into the older teen's crotch with all subtlety of a charging rhino.

Seto's magnificent brain short-circuited as instinct took over and he thrust back against Jou.

"Damn, Mutt…" He groaned, turning the curse into a cry of pleasure. He kissed Jou's tanned skin everywhere he could reach unable to get enough of him. Joey captured Seto's mouth with his own and thrust his tongue in the brunet's mouth in time with their grinding hips. The sensations that electrified Seto's mind, body, and soul were so intense he thought he might die from them. Somewhere in a deep recess of his mind that wasn't functioning properly he was dimly aware that they were standing outside where any of the servants could see. Although fully clothed, their mouths were locked in mortal combat, erections straining for more intimate contact in pleasure bordering on pain.

"Oh, Jou…" Seto cried out as he came in wave after wave of pleasure unlike anything he'd known before.

"Shhh…" Joey whispered back, not so much to quiet Seto as to sooth him. With his hands he guided Seto's hips and reached his own release.

"The first time…I saw you…I knew you'd…turn me into…an unsightly…puddle of goo…" Seto panted out.

Jou smirked, then chuckled, then all out laughed as he visualized Seto sliding to the floor like partially set up Jello. "So what flavor of goo are you?"

"Does it matter?" Seto asked limply.

"No. I was just trying to picture it. And here all this time I thought you hated me." Joey relaxed and held Seto against him in a loving embrace. "Mokuba's gone for the weekend."

"I'm aware of that." Seto stated shortly, his brain still working below its normal lightning speed.

"You could give the servants the rest of the weekend off." Jou whispered as he licked the outer ridge of Seto's ear. "We'd be all alone…it'd be the perfect opportunity to play in a new bed…or wherever."

More than just Seto's face was getting warm from what Jou was suggesting.

"Jou, I've…" Seto was hesitant. He hated to admit any weakness to anyone. He should know how to deal with _any_ situation, regardless of its nature. He searched his love's chocolate eyes. "I've never done any of this before."

Joey smiled. "You don't have to be a genius to figure some things out, Seto."

"I need you to understand, Jou. I've never wanted anyone but you. I don't think I could ever love anyone else like this. You have enough love to let the world in, but for me there is only _you_. I won't be toyed with, Jou. I won't be a plaything that you tire of and simply cast away. I need to know that won't happen." Seto's piercing blue eyes tried to penetrate Joey's soul searching for comprehension in the golden brown depths of his love's eyes.

And Joey did understand. As far as he could tell Seto saw the world in black and white with nothing in between. He would never do anything halfway. Like a wolf, he would mate for life. Seto had good reason to be afraid after all the betrayals and heartbreaks he'd dealt with in his short life. But Joey also understood something he didn't think his sweet genius did-that by risking nothing you gained nothing. Seto didn't have a corner market on pain, nobody did, nobody had a perfect life.

"If you never let anyone in, all you'll end up being is alone. You need to decide if I'm worth the risk." Jou told him returning the intense stare. In no duel worth his effort would Jou ever back down and this could be the most important match of his life. He had all the right cards in play and he knew Seto could match him move for move, but would Seto be willing to show his hand? Would this duel be resolved in a way that both of them would be victorious?

"You are, Jou." Seto surrendered. Almost timidly, he kissed Joey. The blond opened his mouth to allow Seto entrance realizing this was the first kiss he'd ever initiated. Seto pulled back reluctantly after only a moment. "We should get cleaned up and go get that bed. I'll meet you in front of the mansion."

With a determined set to his shoulders, he went down the steps and headed for the mansion. He needed a very fast, very cold shower before he would be remotely presentable to be in public. He wondered which one of his trench coats would look best buttoned…just in case.


	23. Chapter 23 The Secret of Your Beauty

****

Chapter 23 The Secret of Your Beauty

Disclaimer: All I own is the plot….

………

Seto and Joey bombed out at the first couple of furniture stores they went to. The salespeople seemed to be of the rather mundane opinion that a bed was a bed. The third store they went to only sold bedroom furniture. Instinctively both teens knew that this would be _their _bed and that it should be something special. The salesman showed them around asking Seto what they were looking for. Seto shrugged lost in watching his Jou-pup bounce from one bed to the next.

"He does realize that the mattress and bed frame are sold as separate units, doesn't he?"

The salesman frowned.

The puppy bounded back. "Seto, you have to check this out!"

Jou grabbed Seto by the sleeve of his blue trench coat yanking him forward so hard that the tall brunette stumbled. "Did you have a bowl of sugar for breakfast, Jou?" The bemused CEO asked.

"Check it out." Jou said waving his hand toward the bed.

The cherry wood bed was a sight to behold. A clear high gloss varnish accentuated the natural deep red tones of the wood. Queen size with a twelve-drawer underbed dresser, a simple curved headboard had a winged heart carved into it, each corner of the bed rose into a squared off column to a mirror tiled canopy fitted with green velvet bed curtains.

Seto gaped at it and licked his lips. "We'll take it."

"It is a fine bed, sir, but very expensive." The salesman warned.

Joey was bouncing on his knees in the center of the bed rumpling the quilted green velvet bedspread.

Kaiba handed the salesman a credit card and a business card. "Have it delivered to this address by 3 p.m. and there will be a bonus in it for you. My housekeeper will tell your delivery people where to set it up. We'll take the mattress, bedspread, and curtains as well."

The salesman looked at the credit card and then at the young man in front of him. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba, sir." He squeaked and ran off to make the arrangements.

"Come on, Jou, we need to get some sheets for this monstrosity of yours and have them delivered with it."

……..

They stopped at the same pizzeria Jou had taken Mokuba to the week before.

"What are you going to do about Pegasus?" Seto asked as they waited for their order.

Joey had known this was coming, but he would willingly admit to being utterly clueless on the subject of Pegasus. He was afraid that Seto wanted him to choose one billionaire or the other and he wasn't sure he could do that.

"I don't know." He said after a long moment.

Seto sighed. "He found out you were his son a few days after the fire. He wants you to contact him. Jou, do you understand what this means? You are the heir of a nearly limitless fortune. You could eventually become the president of Industrial Illusions, create your own duel monsters, and own the game itself. Our relationship…it can't really go any further until we work this out."

Joey looked at him like he'd never seen the strange boy before and realized they didn't really know each other that well even now. Their outlooks on life were so completely opposite. How could they ever hope to connect? Seto saw things in terms of dollar signs and concrete while Joey saw his life in terms of the faces who populated it-good and bad, those who were MIA and those he hoped would stay a lifetime.

"Do you really think any of that matters to me, Seto? Do you?" Joey hissed.

"No, actually, I don't. But you don't need me, Jou." Seto sank against the back of the booth resigned.

"Who said I ever did?" Joey retorted.

This up and down crap of Jou's was really starting to get to Seto. He really wished the blond would make up his mind about them and stick to it. Hurt and confused, all Seto wanted to do was walk away.

"No one." He said in an oddly flat tone.

Joey reached under the table and put a hand on Seto's knee. He leaned in as close to him as he could. "I _want _you, Seto, more than I've ever wanted anything in my life."

Seto took Joey's hand under the table. He felt impatient, wishing they were alone. He groaned a little in frustration. "Well, Puppy, I _need _you."

Jou grinned. "Talk like that could get you molested in a public place. What happened to that celibacy agreement?"

"Aren't we off the subject?"

"The subject of you spending the night with me in my pretty new bed?"

"Jou!" Seto could feel the heat rising in his cheeks.

The waitress brought the pizza, gave Seto a funny look, and left.

"What do you want me to do about Pegasus?" Jou asked with a smirk gracing his features. He was trying to be serious, but it wasn't easy. Seto with a blush was more tempting than any pizza.

"I can't help you make this decision, Jou."

Joey took a bite out of a jumbo slice of pizza, eating it crust first. He wasn't happy. Seto was pressing him for a decision on an issue he'd rammed down Jou's throat in the first place. Every time he thought about it he got angry. It distracted him from thinking about the Pegasus situation clearly. Maybe his anger at Seto was causing him to avoid the real problem, but he still didn't understand what the big rush was about. "Seto, I don't get it. Why are you pushing this?"

Seto sighed. "I had a meeting with Pegasus shortly after I became CEO of Kaiba Corp. A couple years before that Pegasus approached my adoptive father about holographic technology for Duel Monsters. Gozaburo wasn't the least bit interested, but I was. So Pegasus and I met again. I was fifteen at the time and trying to prove myself both to Kaiba Corp's board of directors and the big shots of business. Pegasus gave me a chance. He wanted a demonstration of the holographic technology I had been working on for Gozaburo's war toys. I obliged him. He challenged me to my first duel and walked me through the game step by step. He was incredible and I was instantly hooked on the game. Pegasus was my Duel Monsters mentor, Jou." He paused and took a drink of water before going on. "But I could never bring myself to trust him. After I was world champion, Pegasus made a proposition to me of consolidating our two companies into one. My instincts were proven correct. He wanted to take over Kaiba Corp. I thought he saw me as an equal, but what he really saw was an easy mark. I refused him and then he tried to take Kaiba Corp by force by using Mokuba. He's inhumanly cruel. But then you know that, Jou."

Joey was silent. He thought of Pegasus' journal, of Cecelia, his young mother who was forever lost to him. Pegasus kept his true motives well hidden, but through his journal Jou had gotten a glimpse of a side of the man that few had likely seen. He thought about what Seto had just told him and the events of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament.

"Why is it so important to you that I make a decision about Pegasus now? I know I'm going to want to see him and talk to him eventually, but you act like it's a matter of life and death." Joey watched as Seto leaned back into the booth again with his eyes closed attempting to arrange his features into an 'I don't give a damn' expression. "You want me to choose him or you, don't you, Seto?"

Seto said nothing, but his eyes bored into Jou's like icicle spears, uncompromising and self-defeated. Joey thought he was going to be sick. "Uh, I'll be right back."

He headed for the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. Kaiba didn't own him, neither did Pegasus. He was not property. His heart would be neither bought nor sold. A month ago, his biggest problem was worrying about when he would get to see his sister again. Man, he needed to see her _now_. He left the bathroom, snared a pay phone, and had the charges put on his debit card.

"Hello?"

"Hi, sis." Joey grinned.

"Joey!" Serenity yelled. "How are you, big brother?"

"Oh, I'm okay."

"You don't sound okay."

"Hey, I just wanted to hear your voice. Couldn't wait another week I guess."

She giggled. "I can hardly wait, Joey! We are going to have the best time. Nothing but sand, surf and sun."

"And Tristan?"

"Well…that is kind of a bonus, huh?"

Joey could almost see her blushing cutely. Hearing how excited she was had done the trick. He had to get his idiot genius to see sense. He grinned like a fool, happy again. "Hey, sis, I gotta go, but I'll see you in a week. Thanks for everything."

"Okay, Joey." She sounded puzzled. "I don't know what I did, but you're welcome. I love you, big brother."

"Love ya, sis." He hung up and headed back to his stony-faced seahorse who eyed him warily.

"What would you do if something happened to Mokuba?" Jou asked as he sat down.

"Why?" Seto snarled giving Joey his infamous death glare.

"If he died and you thought it was within your power to restore his life, would you do it?"

Joey was certain he knew the answer, after all that Seto had done to keep his brother safe.

"Yes." The blue-eyed dragon master never hesitated, didn't blink, didn't have to think about it.

"Pegasus didn't want Kaiba Corp, Seto. I think he tried to ask for your help and when you refused he resorted to other means." Joey started tentatively feeling his way. He wasn't too sure how he felt about Pegasus being his father, but if he was going to keep his options open he needed to get Seto to see Pegasus' true motives.

"You're defending that soul-stealing, brother-snatching, company-grabbing crook!? How can after everything he did to Yugi? After everything he did to me? He gave you up! Abandoned you as if you were…you were…a dog!" Seto spat out.

Joey choked on his Coke, it fizzed up his nose and sprayed out over the leftover pizza as he snorted. He couldn't help but laugh at the last part of Seto's outburst. As soon as Seto was sure Jou wasn't dying, he started to chuckle a little too, realizing how absurd what he had said was considering his and Jou's history.

"Will you listen to me, Seto, and try to keep an open mind?" Seto nodded and felt the brink of disaster recede from him a little. "After Yugi won the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, Tea found Pegasus' journal. It explained everything he was trying to do. He thought he could bring my mother back to life."

Seto's eyes went wide in disbelief. "That's insane, Jou."

"Maybe." Joey agreed. "But you just told me yourself you would do the same thing."

Seto scowled. Joey had a point. "How did he intend to pull this off?"

"He wanted you to create a solid holographic body for her. He thought with enough power he could restore her soul with the Millennium Eye. He probably thought if he told you what he was really trying to do you would refuse."

"And he would have been right. So what do you want to do about Pegasus?" Seto persisted.

"Man, you've gotta be the most hard-headed person I know!" Jou complained.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "The pot is calling the kettle black."

Joey stuck his tongue out at his guardian. "We're going to get Serenity next Saturday right? Maybe we could invite Pegasus to the mansion Friday for supper?"

Compromise was not going to come easy for the CEO. "You really believe it is possible for the three of us to coexist in peace?"

"Won't know unless we try." Jou smiled.

"I'll call him as soon as we get home." Seto agreed reluctantly.

"Oh, Seto, you're the best big brother ever!" Joey exclaimed, doing his best Mokuba impression.

Blue eyes widened in horror at the implications of that. "I am _not_ your brother!"

"Then what are you?" Joey teased loving his newfound ability to fluster the Ice Man.

……..

Jou insisted on doing a little quick shopping before returning to the mansion. When they got back to the estate, Joey drove around to the garage. He had to exercise every molecule of self-control he had to keep from jumping Seto then and there. But they made it into the apartment without a fuss. Seto went for the telephone and Joey for the bedroom.

"Duelist Kingdom. Kemo."

"This is Kaiba. I want to speak to your boss."

A moment later another voice came on the line. "Kaiba-boy, how nice to hear from you again."

Grrr… "Pegasus, Jou would like you to come to the Kaiba Estate for supper on Friday."

"Oh, how wonderful! I'd be delighted. Is the dear boy near by? I'd like to speak with him."

Seto looked at Joey standing in the doorway of his new bedroom. "Pegasus, don't try anything or I'll send you back to that hospital in a coma or, better yet, a body bag."

Pegasus chuckled. "Oh my, how I have missed being threatened by you, Kaiba-boy. Friday evening shall be so much fun! Shall we plan our little gathering for, say, seven o'clock?" Pegasus purred.

"Fine." Kaiba snapped. He held the phone out to Joey who turned slightly green.

"Hello?" The blonde said uncertainly.

"Joseph, it's been a while, has it not?"

"Um…yeah."

"I've been catching up on the progress you've made with your dueling skills. Truly remarkable, Joseph." Pegasus told him, trying to get his son to warm up to him.

"Uh…thank you, I guess."

"This is rather awkward, is it not?"

"Yeah."

"I am most grateful for the opportunity to meet with you, Joseph."

__

Stop calling me Joseph! Joey yelled in his head. "Okay."

"Until Friday?"

"Until Friday." Joey agreed and hung up. He slid to the floor shaking, still annoyed with Seto for rushing him into this, but realizing, if left to his own devices, he might have avoided Pegasus for months. Pegasus would have still been there, like a wound that wouldn't heal for both he and Seto. Better to get it over with.

"Jou?" Seto sat down beside him. Tawny chocolate eyes met sapphire.

"I'm scared." Jou admitted and snuggled into Seto's strong arms.


	24. Chapter 24 And the Mystery of Your Soul

****

Chapter 24 And the Mystery Of Your Soul

A/N: Much of the lemon has been snipped out of this chapter, so if it seems to jump a little I apologize.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except a slightly twisted imagination.

……….

A fiercely tender passion swelled in Seto until he thought his heart would burst from loving too much. In the hospital, Seto wanted Jou to turn to him for comfort and help and here he was, chocolate-eyed thief of a billionaire's heart, one moment defending his independence only later to surrender to the arms that longed to keep him near. Seto cupped Jou's chin in his palm and kissed the honey cinnamon flavored lips of his love.

"Gods…I could hardly keep my hands off of you all day." Jou moaned. He pulled Seto up with him so they were both on their feet and he moved behind the tall dragon master. He pulled the trench coat off Seto's shoulders and tossed it onto the table.

"Likewise." Seto mumbled, tense, excited, and uncertain, but mostly hoping that if this was another one of his erotic dreams that he _never_ woke up.

Jou pressed a hand into the small of Seto's back and guided him into the bedroom. He could feel Seto's tension and knew that the proud man would challenge him in every way it was possible to be challenged. Jou stood on his tiptoes and sucked on the brunet's earlobe, one hand at his waist while the other lightly traveled over Seto's chest.

"We'll take this slowly, sweet baby blue eyes." Joey whispered to him. "I want to give you a massage."

He stepped away from Seto and shut the door. Seto sat on the side of the bed content to watch Joey strip out of his clothes piece by piece with hungry eyes gazing on skin that once he had only been able to desire and now could freely possess.

Jou left only his boxers on and once again pulled the brunet to his feet. He kissed Seto along his jaw line as he untucked the taller boy's shirt. The dragon master remained passive outwardly, but Jou met twin torches of blue flame and knew _that _was a fire he would willingly die in. Those incredible eyes, just to look into their unmasked depths and glimpse upon what they kept so well hidden was enough to make Jou want to rip Seto's clothes off and take him then and there.

His fingers trembled as he worked on the difficult buttons. Long slender fingers reached out and lightly grazed Jou's tan skin, wonder written in the cerulean abyss of Seto's eyes. Jou slid the shirt off the brunet's shoulders and tossed it to his own pile of clothes.

Seto had always thought of himself as attractive, but suddenly he felt self conscious, pale, bony, and far too thin. Years of martial arts training had not given him the physique Joey seemed to have been born with. It was all too obvious to Seto who was the master in thearena of the bedroom.

"Seto," Joey snapped his fingers, "Earth to Seto…"

He realized he had gotten lost looking at Joey's body and felt blood rush to his cheeks.

"Lay down so I can give you a back rub." Joey's eyes sparkled in amusement. He knew he was pretty to look at. He didn't flaunt it, but he knew. Seto had a different kind of beauty, sleek and spare, as cool as a chiseled alabaster god, as hot as molten stone. He was a paradox of black and white, all or nothing, divided from his own soul, an extremist in the strictest sense. This rare being that walked the earth as Seto Kaiba wanted this simple boy with simple wants and needs. Jou was powerless to deny the Lord of Dragons. Submission seemed like destiny.

Jou retrieved a bottle of sandalwood massage oil and straddled Seto's hips. He applied a few drops of the oil to the tightened muscles of Seto's back and concentrated on working them loose.

"My strong, beautiful Seto." Jou whispered just enjoying the feel of Seto's body and his own ability to draw the tension out of it.

"Not." Seto mumbled.

"Not mine?" Joey asked in a slightly pouty voice.

"Not beautiful." Seto clarified.

Joey had kept his weight on his knees, his body over Seto rather than on him.

"You're wrong." Joey insisted.

"I'm a genius." Seto replied his voice muffled by the pillow. "I'm never wrong."

Joey smirked. "I'll show you how wrong you are." He whispered into Seto's ear and let the blue-eyed boy feel his desire as he leaned down over Seto.

Seto had been kind of drowsy when Jou practically laid down on top of him. Jou's hardness pressing against his backside caused all restraint to vanish. It was far too much for the sexually repressed teenager to handle.

"Jou! Get. Off. Me. Now!" Seto demanded through gritted teeth.

Frustrated and stunned, Jou nevertheless moved quickly. Had he really thought Kaiba was a challenge? More like impossible. The blonde bolted out of one bedroom and was in the other locking the door before Seto had time to blink. Joey had a couple boxes in his old room he was going to use to move his stuff to his new room, but they would work just as well to move _out_.

He could call Tristan and have his friend help him move his stuff. He could stay with Yugi tonight and contact Pegasus, leave Domino, and start life over as the bitter prince of Duelist Kingdom tomorrow. He dashed away tears in his hurt and anger. Maybe Pegasus would let Joey bring Serenity to the island. He grabbed a box, flung open a dresser drawer and began to throw in his things. There was rude pounding on the bedroom door which Joey studiously ignored.

"Damn it, Jou, open the door!"

"Why don't you go screw yourself?" Joey screamed at the door. "You're probably very good at it by now!"

Out in the main room of the apartment, Seto cringed. His lack of interpersonal skills had never backfired on him in such a devastating way before. He hadn't meant what he'd said to come off the way it obviously had. He hadn't wanted Jou to leave. He just wanted him to move so they could face each other and love each other. Seto's approach was cold and gruff and he just didn't know how to reach out to his golden puppy.

Seto hated himself for it. Hated the people who had done this to him, purposely narrowing his world and numbing his senses. He allowed his rage to fill him. He stood with his side toward the door and his body fell naturally into the proper stance. He directed all of his intense emotions into a single fluid movement as he brought his leg up in a ninety-degree angle and kicked out. His foot connected solidly with the door. The door never had a chance as it was ripped from its frame and crashed to the floor.

Joey had pulled on a plain white T-shirt before the bedroom door fell to its doom. His chocolate eyes were wide and he held the box he'd finished with out in front of him. The top of the door had landed a few inches from his toes. The box did land on his toes as he dropped it in shock.

But the door wasn't as shocking as the man on the other end of it. Seto's face had become a red mask of fury wildly contrasting with frost glazed blue eyes. Eyes that had become demonic, evil, filled with hatred, and a cold Hell would never know. And then Seto walked over the door toward Joey.

Now Joey had experienced some weird things in his life, but he thought that if he lived to be as old as Yami the terrifying vision before him would still haunt his dreams. Seto kicked the box of clothes out of the way, grabbed Joey by his T-shirt and growled, "Damn, Mutt!"

He pulled Joey up against his lean hard body kissing him furiously, forcing his tongue into the blond's mouth, and trying to physically express the longing he felt. Finally, Seto released Jou.

It was Jou's turn to blush. He scratched his head and grinned like the fool he had just made of himself. "I sorta overreacted, didn't I?" He asked sheepishly.

"You planning on moving out?" Seto asked eyeing the box of clothes with suspicion.

"Uh…I was planning on moving to the other bedroom?"

Seto swept the box up and strode back over the door as if the murder of doors was a daily occurrence in his life. Joey followed him into the bedroom the cherry wood monstrosity graced and turned down the quilted bed coverings.

"You wear me out." Jou complained with an impish glint in his eyes that suggested he was anything but tired.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "You're overdressed." He stripped Jou of his T-shirt.

"Me? What about you?" Joey pulled Seto a little closer hooking his fingers in Seto's belt. But he felt Seto tense up again so he leaned into the brunet, chest-to-chest and cheek-to-cheek. "You told me that I don't scare you." Joey reminded him softly.

"I lied." Seto said bluntly.

"Figures." Joey kissed him full on the mouth so deeply he may very well have drawn the air out of Seto's lungs. All Seto knew was that he was suddenly breathless and pantsless. Jou's hands kneaded his behind through baby blue silk boxers.

"Jou…" Seto's voice cracked. Joey's amber brown eyes questioned blue. "Please…"

"What, Seto? What's wrong?" One hand went to Seto's waist while the other traveled another path of its own accord. Jou slipped a finger through the silk fly and lightly stroked the swelling it found there.

"Uhh…" Seto moaned startled and needy. "More, Jou…"

"How much more?"

"Anything…everything…just don't stop."

"Lay down, Seto." Joey kissed the brunet's collarbone and along the ridge of his neck and then pulled back enough to remove the silk boxers.

Seto closed his eyes trying to block out his feelings of vulnerability and exposure, retreating to the sanctuary of his mind.

Joey instantly picked up on Seto's discomfort, slipped out of his own boxers and laid down beside Seto content for a moment to simply gaze on Seto's nudity without touching or talking. He rolled toward the brunet and draped a leg over Seto's thigh. He took Seto's chin in one hand and whispered, "I love you, baby blue eyes."

Seto pulled Joey halfway on top of him and Joey settled his thigh between Seto's legs. Seto rolled so they were facing each other. He ran a line of brief kisses down Jou's chest and latched on to a nipple. Joey arched into him instinctively and clung tightly to the man he had thought he could never love.

"You taste like cinnamon and honey." Seto murmured. "Good enough to eat.

"You're making me hungry, but not for food." Jou responded in a lust-filled sexy voice as he moved and brought the bare flesh of their desires in contact with one another for the first time.

Seto gasped going back for Jou's mouth and nearly biting Jou's lip in the process. "Feels good, doesn't it, blue eyes?" Joey said drawing back from the attack on his mouth.

"Mmm…" Seto responded.

He leisurely let his hand travel a plotted course downward and in between Seto's thighs.

"Are you ready to go this far?" Jou whispered, amusement losing out to passion as he caressed the tight sphincter muscle.

"Take me." Seto managed to get out, his heart pounding hard but feeling light-headed due to a lack of oxygen getting to his brain-his blood boiling, too busy circulating to the rest of his needy body to be concerned about the large malfunctioning organ in his skull-and another part of his anatomy throbbing painfully.

Jou rolled out of the bed in response to Seto's demand and Seto menacingly growled his displeasure. Joey retrieved his cargo pants and rummaged through deep pockets until he came up with a lube tube. As he came back to the bed Seto reached out for him, running a hand down the blond's side and stopping at his hip. Whatever held him back, whatever made him feel that he was revealing his weaknesses before, melted under the warm open gaze of the golden beauty before him.

"Are you sure? It's gonna hurt." Joey warned him.

"I know. Please, just do it."

Joey squeezed some lube into his hand and coated his fingers. He climbed onto the bed. Seto shifted and spread his legs to give Joey more room, but he still went rigid when Joey touched the tight ring of muscle with his fingertip.

"Relax, Seto, take a deep breath." With the hand that wasn't occupied, Jou clasped one of Seto's hands.

"We don't have to do this yet, Seto." Jou told him when he heard Seto's hiss of discomfort.

"I'll tell you when to stop, Mutt." Seto said forcefully.

"Oh yeah, that's my Seto." Jou grinned.

………..

" No one else will ever be with me like this." Seto whispered, his voice deepened with a passion that went beyond mere physical lust. "Jou, I want more."

"I can feel that." Jou smirked. "What kind of monster have I created?"

"A very lustful one." Seto answered and attacked Jou's neck.

"Seto…" Jou gasped. "We have all night…"

"More. Now." Seto demanded looking at the mark he'd made on Jou's neck with satisfaction.

Joey used the moment to roll them over in a rather nifty move that didn't disturb the way their bodies were locked together. "You're gonna be sore tomorrow."

"All the more reason to stay in bed." Seto replied wolfishly.

"I want you to take me instead." Jou said stopping Seto in his tracks.

"Hmm…" Seto licked the sweat off Jou's chest starting at his breastbone and ending with a nip on his chin. "I guess I can live with that." And then he passed out.

"Uh…Seto? I can't breathe. Seto?" Okay now what? Seto was total dead weight on top of him. "Seto?"

Joey managed to wiggle his way to freedom and grinned at his sleeping love. There was a blissfully peaceful expression on Seto's face that was beautifully childlike. Jou pulled the covers up over him, retrieved a pair of swimming trunks, cleaned up in the bathroom, pulled the trunks on, and headed out to the pool.

……..

Perhaps an hour later Seto woke up…alone. "Damn Mutt!" He grumbled and extracted his boxers from the clothes littered floor. "Jou?"

Receiving no answer, Seto continued to get dressed all the while ranting under his breath about a dog that needed to be kept on a leash. A quick look through the apartment was enough to confirm Jou's untimely absence.

Seto went out to the balcony and spotted the object of his desire laying face down on a bright beach towel, the dying light of the sun turning him into the golden boy Seto knew he was. Seto went to the pool and crouched in front of Jou.

The blond smiled, "Took you long enough…"

"You need a collar and a leash." Seto retorted.

"Mmm…first supper. Gotta keep up my strength you know, especially if you're gonna start tying me up." Joey smirked suggestively.

"Supper then bed." Seto pushed wet blond locks out of his puppy's eyes. "Supper better be quick."

"You need to cool off." Joey easily pushed the slightly off-balance brunette into the pool.

When Seto resurfaced the look of despairing shock on his face made Joey laugh so hard he cried.

"You-pushed-me-into-the-pool-again." Seto crisply enunciated each word, his blue eyes wide in disbelief at the audacity of the one person on the planet who seemed consistently capable of surprising him. "I _will_ get you for that."

"Yeah, you will." Joey dove in. He grabbed Seto by the waist. "You wear too many clothes." He complained ignoring the buttons and simply ripping Seto's shirt off. He wrapped his legs around Seto's waist.

"What happened to supper?" Seto wondered.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Jou's eyes sparkled with orneriness . He detached himself from Seto, grabbed the ladder and started to climb out.

"Oh no, you don't!" Seto laughed and reached around Jou from behind trying to pull him off the ladder, but Joey hung on for all he was worth. "Let go, Jou!"

"No! No! It's the attack of the sex-crazed CEO!!" Joey shouted. Without warning he let go and both of them went under. They came up laughing and sputtering, playing like two little kids.


	25. Chapter 25 Ryou

****

Chapter 25 Ryou

Yes, there really is a movie called 'Ladyhawke'. No, I don't own it, but it is really good…

And yes, there is an actual bad guy in this story…

……….

He had been lost for an undetermined amount of time and he felt the heavy guilt that betraying his yami caused him. Regardless of the fact that his yami was a certifiable psychopath, he was still _his _yami. He had stood up to the ancient spirit of the tomb robber who had more respect for a worm than he did his weakling host. Somehow Bakura had come back after Yugi's Yami banished him to the Shadow Realm. But then Bakura _was_ as sly as a fox, talented in switching realistic fakes with true treasures. Ryou's dark escaped the Shadow Realm with the ease of a truly great thief and hid in plain sight. Bakura hated Ryou, but needed him. No, more accurately, he needed Ryou's body. His soul? The tomb robber had decided the little hikari would be banished to the Shadow Realm in his place, neatly eliminating the problem of who controlled the host's body.

Ryou had the most violent, terrifying nightmares in this place where time and memory and reality were meaningless concepts. He wasn't even certain if he actually slept. But if he didn't sleep how could he be having nightmares? He didn't want to consider the alternate possibility that the nightmares weren't nightmares at all.

He was lost. A small white-haired boy with the soul of an angel imprisoned for eternity in a dimension of darkness. Unknown to Ryou, another angel watched as he curled up on a floor of nothingness, not sensing her light as she had his.

Cecelia found the boy intriguing. He too possessed a Millennium item, if only a Shadow version of it which seemed to indicate that he had some connection to the item, but was unaware that he could still access its magic. If the boy had been banished it was probable that his physical body awaited the return of its soul. She lay down beside him. She would wait and, when he woke up, she would be there.

………

Ryou woke up from a sweet dream of his ordinary life in Domino City…well, as ordinary a life as anyone who bore a Millennium item could have anyway. He wondered if he was still dreaming when he saw the beautiful girl lying next to him. She opened pretty blue eyes and Ryou had the strangest feeling he had seen her before. At least she didn't look dangerous.

"Hi. I'm Ryou Bakura." He smiled, stood up, and offered her his hand.

She took it, returned his smile, and got to her feet. "Hello, Ryou. My name is Cecelia Pegasus."

He jerked his hand away as if hers had suddenly become unbearably hot, red alert sirens going off in his head. Duelist Kingdom. Castle Pegasus. Her portrait everywhere. Yami Bakura taking advantage of the Duel Monsters creator's exhaustion, ripping out the golden Eye, and sending Pegasus to the Shadow Realm as Ryou watched in horror, only to be banished himself moments later. And now he was being confronted by the spirit of Pegasus' wife?

"W-what? Why are you here? How did _you_ end up in the Shadow Realm? Where's Pegasus?" Ryou looked around expecting the man to appear out of the darkness and accuse him of sleeping with his wife…which he had, but he didn't know she was going to curl up to him and they were just _sleeping _for goodness sakes…

"You know my Max? But then of course you would…you have a Millennium item too." She paused watching the frantic boy. "Ryou, he's not here. He had enough magic to go back. I think, maybe, you do as well. Come with me. I have a little place where we can go and talk."

They walked a short distance when Cecelia stopped. She put her hands out as if pushing aside curtains and stepped through. Ryou followed her and gasped.

He was standing in a circular clearing surrounded on all sides by trees. He could hear a babbling brook in the background and a there was a pretty blue sky above. At one edge of Cecelia's oasis in the middle of the desert of the Shadow Realm was a brightly colored silk pavilion that looked as though it had been transported here by way of Arabian Nights.

"This is the memory of a place I used to play when I was a little girl. I liked to pretend it was a magically enchanted fairy ring. Now I've learned how cruel magic can be." Cecelia smiled wistfully and ducked inside the pavilion and Ryou followed her. The floor was covered with satin, silk, and velvet cushions and coverlets.

"You asked me how I ended up in the Shadow Realm. Are you sure you want to know, pretty Ryou?" Beautiful as she was, her sadness was quite evident.

"Yes, uh…Mrs. Pegasus."

Cecelia laughed and shook her head. "Please, Ryou, forgive me. Just call me Cecelia. I was never 'Mrs. Pegasus', but always Miss Cecelia or Lady Pegasus. Max was always fond of the latter." She paused thoughtfully. "Why does my husband frighten you?"

"Uh…" Ryou tried to think of a tactful answer. She was sweet and dangerous all at once. One moment a dove, the next a hawk. He was reminded of an old fantasy movie he had seen called 'Ladyhawke'. "Forever together, forever apart." He whispered not realizing he had spoken aloud.

"What?"

"It was a movie I saw. You remind me of the girl in it. She and her lover were cursed. By day she was a hawk, by night he was a wolf. He was human by day and she was human by night. They were always together, but always apart, kind of like you and Pegasus." Ryou explained.

"Did they find a way to break the curse?" Cecelia asked with intent interest.

"Yes, they did. They had some help from an old priest and a thief who called himself Mouse. Ladyhawke had a lot of courage. Even though her situation seemed hopeless, she never gave up."

"Thank you, Ryou Mouse, for telling me this story. Now I will tell you mine." Tears glittered in her eyes and Ryou realized that somehow the fairy tale he'd told her hit closer to home than he knew. "The beginnings of this tale is lost to history and is only known to precious few who bore it witness and survive in this realm of darkness."

Cecelia was a natural storyteller, her voice musical and soothing. Her words shaped images in Ryou's mind. He saw her story even as she told it. "In ancient times there was a powerful group of magicians called the Ennead. They were the self-proclaimed 'true' counselors of the gods and they chose to align themselves with the gods of darkness. The legend tells that as a gift for their faithful worship, the dark gods created a rift in time and space for the Ennead to use for games of pleasure and torture, a place where monsters dwell and lost souls wander. The Ennead used the Shadow Realm and manipulated wealth, power and politics. Terrible wars broke out in many lands, but the power of the Ennead was felt primarily in Egypt. Their leader is a powerful spiritual being that inhabits the body of a human host using Shadow magic to give the host eternal life. The spiritual being has been known by many names, but perhaps the most fitting is Souleater. This being is said to have taken over the body of its human host by force devouring the host's soul. Souleater also possesses a Millennium item that allows him to enter into the mind of his victim and destroy their soul as he did when he chose his host body." Cecelia paused noticing that her guest's face was as white as his hair. "Ryou Mouse? Are you familiar with the history of the Millennium items? Perhaps with this story?"

Ryou shook his head in denial of more than the lady's words. Yami Bakura…Ryou clutched the Shadow of the Millennium Ring to his breast.

"I'm sorry, Ryou. I didn't mean to upset you. Please tell me what's wrong. It's been so long since I've had human company. When Max was here I was only able to speak to him briefly and the monsters…there are some of them that have become wonderful friends, but they are still monsters. They don't live the way we do. Please talk to me, Ryou. It can't be all that bad."

Ryou looked at her with soulful eyes brimming with tears. "But Lady Pegasus, it is that bad, worse even. My yami, the dark spirit of the Millennium Ring…he stole my body and sent my soul here. He's power-mad and…" Ryou trailed off miserably.

"And what, Ryou?"

"He stole Pegasus' Millennium Eye." Ryou confessed.

"Oh." Things were starting to make more sense to Cecelia now and she wasn't sure what to make of this new information. "And that's how you ended up here, pretty Ryou?"

"Yes." He hung his head in shame.

Cecelia decided that it really didn't matter that Ryou's dark was obviously a madman…mad spirit rather. She and Ryou were still victims and she needed his help. She went and sat next to him. "Neither of us is happy with the destiny we've been handed. Do you think we can be friends?"

"I thought we already were." Ryou grinned shyly. "But I still don't know how you ended up here."

"Oh, where did I leave off?" Cecelia pondered it a moment and then continued. "There came to the throne a young and powerful Pharaoh. He obsessed over games of any kind, but had a particular fondness for a form of Shadow Game, which was played with monsters. It was through these games that the Ennead first came in contact with the Pharaoh. It was said that the Pharaoh could not be beaten at any game. The Ennead tested him for his strength and skill. For each competition in the Shadow Realm that the young nameless Pharaoh won he was awarded a magical golden item. But if he lost even a single duel the price was his soul.

The Pharaoh did not lose and the Ennead were quite impressed, so impressed that they have tried for five thousand years to capture the Pharaoh's soul. They want it to use as a tribute to their dark gods for through its sacrifice the Shadow Realm could be joined to the mortal world. Our world, Ryou."

"The seven items were the Ring, the Puzzle, the Eye, the Necklace, the Rod, the Scales, and the Key or Ankh." Ryou added.

"Yes, the Pharaoh kept the Puzzle for himself. The others were given to those of royal blood whom the Pharaoh trusted. The Millennium items twisted the souls of their keepers; their dark magic turned the Pharaoh's most loyal servants to paths of evil. Even the Pharaoh himself was not immune. He became hardened in his heart, cruel and withdrawn.

The Ankh was given to a cousin of the Pharaoh's, a young scribe. The Ankh is a symbol of eternal life and eternal life is one of its most powerful magics. Souleater abandoned its original host in favor of the human who possessed the Millennium Ankh. The Ennead orchestrated the Pharaoh's betrayal. They nearly succeeded in their quest to merge the Shadow Realm with our own world. It isn't known how the Pharaoh was able to stop the Ennead, only that in doing so he sacrificed himself sealing his soul within the Millennium Puzzle. The Puzzle was broken into its component parts and placed in a box. Whoever could solve the Millennium Puzzle would gain access to the Pharaoh's power."

"Wow…how did you find all of this out?" Ryou asked.

"I learned it from someone who was there. Ryou, would you excuse me for a moment?"

Ryou nodded and Cecelia exited the pavilion. When she came back moments later she wasn't alone. A cute petite blonde girl joined them. She carried a magician's staff and wore a scanty pink and blue costume. Her hat resembled the Dark Magician's.

"Ryou, I would like you to meet Dark Magician Girl. She's Dark Magician's little sister." Dark Magician Girl did a cute little curtsy and giggled. "I nicknamed her Gina."

Gina giggled again and arranged herself on a large cushion and laid her staff across her lap. "Lady Pegasus told me you are the keeper of the Millennium Ring."

Cecelia continued. "Ryou, in the past the Dark Magician could only be commanded by the Pharaoh. He witnessed the events of the past and Gina convinced him to share what happened to me."

"Big brother isn't always very forthcoming with his secrets." Gina giggled. "I had to tickle him until he promised to tell."

Ryou tried to picture the stately purple mage being tackled and tickled into submission by the pink and blue sprite and had to grin.

"It took five millennia for Souleater and the Ennead to find someone to set the events of the past in motion again. He was young, affluent, brilliant, artistic, and psychic. He also happened to be a loving husband with a child on the way." Cecelia's voice broke as she struggled to restrain a sob.

"Pegasus?" Ryou asked. "A baby?"

Cecelia nodded. "Max was such an innocent in so many ways. You remind me of him a little, Ryou. He was so sensitive, so aware of the shifting moods and feelings of others. He saw beauty in everyone and everything. But he suffered too. Terrible migraines would send him to his bed for days at a time. It was difficult for him to be truly close to anyone. His parents kept him pretty sheltered, afraid that stress brought on the migraines. He always believed that it was his psychic abilities…his ability to know what others felt that made it impossible for him to be around others for any extended period of time. He often said his friend Christopher was psychically neutral and I was so in tune with him that we might actually be two halves of the same soul.

We named our son Joseph Cecil, using Max's middle name and the masculine form of mine. For a few weeks, our lives were perfect. We had an Egyptian nurse on our staff to help with the baby. Unknown to us, the nurse, Anya, was a member of the Ennead. She used a magical potion to make to make me ill. The doctors, the best in the world, were completely baffled and told Max I had some rare incurable disease. Anya's was the last voice I heard as I lay there dying. She told me how she had taken my life and how she would take my son and raise him as her own and that Max would spend his life as the innocent recruit of the powers of the Shadow Realm. I didn't understand at the time. I thought she was insane. That lasted until I died and my soul reawakened to awareness here. I've often thought that the original point of kidnapping Joseph was to lure Max to Egypt, but Anya's plan failed when Max put Joseph up for adoption. He's always felt guilty about it and yet I can't help but believe on some subconscious level Max sensed the danger. By giving up our child he protected Joseph from the Ennead.

Max was unable to accept my death and for some reason got it stuck in his head, maybe with Anya's help, that he would find a way to resurrect me. His grief drove him straight into the arms of the enemy. In Egypt, Souleater lured him to an underground chamber and the Ennead cut out his left eye replacing it with that Millennium nightmare. They summoned my soul from the Shadow Realm for a moment so he could see me and that was all it took to seal his fate. He became driven to gain enough power to bring me back and by recreating the Shadow game of Duel Monsters he hoped to gain that power not realizing that through the game the Pharaoh's soul would be reawakened and the end of the world as we know it would be brought about."

Ryou felt stunned and deeply saddened. "Do you know what became of Joseph?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know exactly. I was drawn to him not long ago. He's your age, Ryou. He was near death, trapped in a burning building. I've never felt so helpless. I couldn't even touch him. I think he thought I was a figment of his imagination." She smiled wryly. "And then _he _came."

"Who came, Cecelia?" Ryou questioned.

"The Pharaoh." Gina answered. Her eyes sparkled like a teenage girl's in love.

"The Pharaoh?"

"In the flesh." Cecelia smiled.

"T-that's…that's not possible." Ryou stammered. "The spirits that reside in the Millennium items don't manifest their own bodies…that's why they need their hosts. That's why my yami stole my body. Great Scott! Yugi! Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle!" Ryou's head was spinning as the pieces of another related puzzle flew together. "Joseph…is he blonde, brown-eyed?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Oh my…" Ryou was terribly pale. "He's a friend of mine from school."

"You know my son? Please, you have to tell me everything about him. But first I have to press my case. I have no body to return to, but you do. You still are connected to the power of the Ring. You have to fight for what is rightfully yours, Ryou. You can go back and help Max. The Pharaoh is in danger. Our world is in danger. You have to help Max to stop the Shadow Realm from being unleashed on the earth." Cecelia held his hands in her own, pleading with him.

Ryou shook his head. "There's nothing I can do, Cecelia. I betrayed my yami because he wrongly trapped the souls of my friends in Duel Monsters cards. The Pharaoh banished my yami to the Shadow Realm, but he escaped…he's too powerful."


	26. Chapter 26 Of Bonding and Baby Dragons

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Chapter 26 Of Bonding and Baby Dragons

Warning: On the theory that nothing comes between Joey and food….oh, some mild crudeness, swearing, um…somewhat edited lemon.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot.

………

Seto had Joey pinned to the side of the pool shoulder high in water with his arms spread eagle. Seto just held him there enjoying the closeness he thought he'd never know.

Joey leaned in and seductively whispered in the brunette's ear. "I hate to break this up, but I'm starving…"

Seto groaned, but released him. "Is all you can think about is your stomach?"

"Is all _you _can think about…ah, never mind. I'll fix us something to eat at the apartment. You oughta get some clothes…"

"I don't need clothes." Seto stated.

"Getting rather daring, aren't you?" Joey laughed. "You _might_ want something to wear tomorrow when your brother gets home and somehow I think my stuff might be too short."

"Puppy, you're annoying me." Seto warned him.

"Am I?" Joey unfastened Seto's slacks and did a little underwater exploration.

"This isn't exactly encouraging me to leave." Seto told the food-deprived boy.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"Not especially." Just then Joey's stomach lodged its protest. Seto scowled. "Fine. Go fix us something to eat."

But suddenly Joey didn't want to go. He wanted to kiss the scowl off Seto's face, among other things. "I'll be waiting for you." Jou winked at the disgruntled brunet as he picked up his beach towel.

"It amuses you to get the better of me, doesn't it?" Seto asked still unhappy.

"Yes, baby blue eyes. I expect to get the very best of you." Jou laughed and took off for their little love nest.

Seto watched Jou's every move like a man dying of thirst would watch the ocean. He forced himself out of the pool and into the mansion. He tossed the ragged remains of his shirt in the garbage, grateful that he had left his Gucci loafers at the apartment, stripped out of his slacks, threw them into the laundry hamper, and let his ruined boxers join the ripped shirt, making a mental note to be careful to save his _good_ clothes for when he wasn't around the mutt or he'd be shopping at Wal-mart like everyone else. He got into a warm shower relaxing and replaying the day's events in his mind. Unfortunately this led to erotic cravings.

He turned the cold water on full blast until his teeth were nearly chattering and tried not to think puppy thoughts, which was impossible while muttering a mantra of "Damn, Mutt" over and over. He quickly got out of the shower and roughly pulled on snug blue jeans and a white cotton shirt not bothering to button it. Why tempt fate? He'd have half his wardrobe in the trash by the end of the weekend at this rate.

He entered the apartment without knocking to the delicious aroma of teriyaki stir-fry. A tray of pillar candles in a variety of heights and widths cast a romantic glow over the table. But he barely noticed distracted as he was by the room's true centerpiece-the gorgeous blond at the stove.

Jou's thick mane was mussed to perfection, his Red Eyes muscle shirt made a nice display of his upper body, and tight red leather pants with enticing black belts clung to every muscular curve from his waist down. _Every_ muscular curve Seto noted and licked his lips. He walked up to Jou, dug one hand in blonde hair kissing him forcefully while his other hand groped Jou's crotch.

Seto broke the kiss long enough to whisper hoarsely, "I hope you can get those pants off. I'd hate to have to cut them, but you know, I'll do what I must to get what I want…"

Jou moaned in response and wrapped his arms around Seto's lean frame. "Supper…Seto, please…I need…"

"I need you." Seto told him flatly.

"Oh yeah…" Jou gasped in surrender and reached behind him to turn off the stove.

Seto pulled him up from the hips and Joey obediently wrapped his legs around Seto who lifted him onto the counter. "Gods, I missed you, Jou."

"I missed you too." He deftly grabbed a bowl, scooped rice into it from a saucepan, added the stir-fry, and a pair of chopsticks offering it to a frowning Seto. "Aren't you going to feed your puppy?" He pleaded with soulful brown eyes.

Seto took a bite and had to admit that it was very good. He took a piece of meat in his teeth and leaned into Joey who nibbled at it being sure to give his lover a good lip massage in the process. They continued having their 'supper' in this manner while Joey explored the architecture of Seto's chest.

"Jou… I don't know how much more of this I can take…" Seto told him. Jou reclaimed the bowl and the chopsticks took a bite and then fed Seto as the brunet rubbed a freed hand against the inside of Joey's thigh. "I've wanted you for so long…"

"You certainly hid it well." Jou said neutrally.

"Can you forgive me?"

"Seto, your hand would not be on my crotch if I hadn't already."

The bluntness of this statement caught Seto off guard and he nearly choked on his last bite of rice. Jou grabbed a glass of water, handed it to Seto, and jumped off the counter. "Let's see if we can get these damn pants off."

__

Yes! Seto cheered to himself, more than willing to oblige the blond and followed him into the bedroom. Joey pulled off his muscle shirt and Seto let his own shirt drop to the floor.

"You said you'd let me be seme this time." Seto reminded Jou with almost boyish glee.

"Yeah, I know."

"I want to make you mine, truly mine." Seto explained his voice deepened with passion.

Joey smiled as Seto's hands caressed the curves of his backside through the supple leather. He worked his way around to the front button fly of the pants as Jou sighed and pressed into Seto's touch. Seto worked the tight leather down Jou's slim hips. The pants seemed as determined not to give up the flesh they clothed as Seto was to get at it. Joey tried to help only to have his hands slapped away. He thought about calling Yugi and getting his advice, but decided that under the circumstances Seto _might_ have a problem with that. Then he realized Seto had stopped working on the pants while they were still only halfway down his thighs. Seto was looking at him with a feral glow in his eyes. And then faster than a snake striking its prey, he was on his feet spinning Jou around and pinning him with his chest against the wall.

"Set…o…" Joey yelped in surprise.

Seto's response was to force Joey's legs apart as far as the red pants would allow and held him there with his shoulder pressed into Jou's back while he busied his hands with other tasks. Jou heard Seto's zipper and wondered just how rough the dragon master was going to be as he forced himself to relax. When he told Seto he could be dominant this was not exactly what Jou had in mind…

"Beg for it, Jou. Beg for _me._" Seto suddenly demanded.

Joey's mind went totally blank as if the words were gibberish or in a language he didn't understand and then he grinned evilly. "Please, I need…I need you to pound into me with your great and powerful rod. Treat me like the dog I am, dragon master…" Jou trailed off as Seto did what he'd asked.

"Mine. Only mine." Seto declared in a voice that suggested dire consequences for any objections. He kissed the bite mark on Jou abused shoulder rested his forehead there.

It took Jou a few moments to realize Seto's tears were mixed in their combined sweat. He took Seto's hand and drew his fierce dragon master's arm across his tan chest and laced his fingers with Seto's over his thundering heart. He didn't know what to say, maybe there was nothing _to_ say, the depth of Seto's emotions were overwhelming to him. And then an odd stray thought occurred to him. "Seto, if you're my master and you're a dragon master does that make me a…"

"A dragon? I suppose so…a dragon _pup_."

Joey snickered. "Which one?"

"Which one what?"

Joey turned to face Seto and didn't do a very graceful job of it since his legs were still trapped by his pants. "Would you please get these things off of me?"

Seto smirked and sat on the floor so he could work the red leather shackles off Jou one leg at a time. "Are you begging again?"

"Oh, you liked that, didn't you?"

Seto's face colored a bit, but he smiled devilishly at Jou. "One thing is certain."

"What's that?"

"I don't need to buy any bondage toys…I'll just get you to wear these pants." Seto grunted and with a final tug they were off.

"Very funny, Seto." Jou sat down on the floor in front of Seto completely nude.

Seto looked him over slowly; loving it that Jou was just as comfortable in his bare skin as he was his clothes. "A gold one."

"Huh?"

"A one of a kind gold dragon."

"Oh. Like the Winged Dragon of Ra?"

"You _do_ have illusions of grandeur, don't you, Jou?" Seto smirked and, unable to resist temptation, stroked the inside of Jou's thigh. "No, a much prettier dragon than Ra." A gentler smile was on his face as he met Jou's eyes. "You would be the Amber Eyes Gold Dragon."

Joey wrapped his body around Seto's, holding him close. "I am _so_ spoiled."

They kissed leisurely for a few moments and then Joey broke it off and got his feet. "Get in bed, Seto."

He went out to the kitchen shoved the wok and the saucepan into the fridge and blew out the candles. He had pulled the sketchpad off the impaled knife blade earlier, but the blade itself was still embedded in the table. He smiled remembering how it got there and everything that had happened since their fight this morning. He checked to make sure everything was turned off, cautious of fires, and then went and snuggled with his lover in their bed.


	27. Chapter 27 Three Horses and a Puppy

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Chapter 27: Three Horses and a Puppy

Disclaimer: I still haven't convinced anyone that I should be getting paid for this…

………

Friday morning.

Pegasus unlocked the door of the nursery and stepped inside the actual room for the first time in seventeen years. The windows had been shuttered from the outside and the furniture hidden under dust covers. He pulled one off of an oddly shaped item.

It was his own boyhood rocking horse. Custom made to order by an Italian artist, the wooden horse was intricately detailed and hand painted from the tips of its outstretched fiery orange-gold wings to the end of its flaming tail. The horse, or more accurately pegasus, was a shade of blue Max particularly loved-the same blue as Cecelia's eyes. As a small boy the wooden horse had taken Max on many fanciful flights, and he had later created a Duel Monsters card in honor of the little rocking horse, transforming him into a proud rearing stallion.

Finally, he pulled a covering off the wall, revealing the only portrait Cecelia had ever requested. He could deny her nothing, but this painting tended to wrench his heart from his breast, as it was such a deep and painful reminder of the life he could have lived and yet refused.

Joseph had been only five days old the first time Max had given him a bath. It was a small task he believed he could handle on his own while Cecelia napped. Later, much to his chagrin, he discovered his wife had silently trailed him armed with a camera and prepared to catch the new father unaware. It seemed he was not the only Pegasus to have a devious streak.

Two days later, his charming and dignified lady had pounced on him as he tried to recover a few lost hours of sleep, waving a handful of photos under his aristocratic nose and insisting that he owed her a painting for all the hours she had patiently sat for him as he painted her repeatedly. She had begged, pleaded, and finally tickled him into submission.

It was the only self-portrait he had ever done. In it his hair hung loose, his white linen shirt was untucked and almost completely unbuttoned. He cradled his naked newborn son to his exposed chest, protectively cupping the tiny child's head against his shoulder. He had whispered some babbled nonsense to Joseph in that moment that was forgotten as quickly as it had been spoken.

He stood in the abandoned nursery looking at the much younger version of himself and his infant son. "Why did I let you go, Joseph? Why? You were mine to love and protect."

Tears ran down the right side of his face as he staggered out of the nursery. Croquet instantly appeared out of nowhere, locked the nursery door, and said nothing.

"I can't do it, Chris. I can't face him. How can I face the son I abandoned when I can't even face myself? He has to hate me like Kaiba and Yugi do. How could he not?"

"You have been invited to Kaiba's mansion to meet with Joseph, sir. That would seem to be a positive indication." Croquet said noncommittally.

"Yes, I'm meeting my son on Kaiba's home turf, probably because Kaiba has plans to trap my mind in a virtual reality world and dispose of my body."

Croquet rolled his eyes. "Sir, surely he could come up with a more original plan to do away with you."

Pegasus stared at his bodyguard in astonishment. Croquet raised his eyebrows and bounced on the balls of his feet a bit.

"Why is it you always choose the most inopportune moments to joke around?" Pegasus demanded.

"Joke, Master Pegasus? You know I have no sense of humor." The bodyguard said in all innocence.

Pegasus huffed and strode down the hallway. "Kaiba is a master strategist. He doesn't do anything unless he thinks he knows what his opponent has planned. By then he's six moves ahead of you. What is Joseph doing with Kaiba anyway?"

"I don't know, sir." It was all Croquet could do to keep up with Pegasus, as it appeared his boss was determined to charge through every hall in the castle. "Master? Uh…I think we've been through this hall already."

Pegasus stopped, took in his surroundings, and huffed again. "You're right," he agreed, and he took off in a different direction.

……….

__

Morning comes too early, Joey thought as he dragged himself off to the shower. Today would be a long day.

He had gotten his things moved into his (and Seto's) new bedroom. The kitchen table had been replaced by one with a black ceramic tile top. Seto had insisted on something that could deflect knife blades. Joey hadn't had the opportunity to test it out…yet.

The door to Serenity's bedroom had been repaired. His painting of Cecelia and Red Eyes had been framed and hung over the futon. He wondered what Pegasus would think of it. Seto was determined that Joey show the apartment to Pegasus. Perhaps Seto didn't want Pegasus to think he made Joey sleep in a dog house, or chained up in the basement the way Pegasus had kept Mokuba chained up in his dungeon.

Instantly, Jou was enraged. He got out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and stomped back to the bedroom where Seto was still miraculously asleep.

"Seto! Wake up!"

"What is it? Did something happen to Mokuba?" The CEO was instantly alert and reacting to the panic in Jou's voice.

"Mokuba's fine! I'm not doing it! I'm not having that silver-haired, one-eyed lunatic around your brother! There is no way that man contributed to my gene pool! No way he fathered me! My dad was a hero! He died trying to help others! He would never chain a kid up in a dungeon!" Joey ranted.

"Jou, come here." Seto wrapped his arms around his shaking lover. "We're going to get through this day. It was your idea, remember? Tonight you can tell him what you just told me, if you like. Once this is over with we can put Pegasus behind us and move on to other things, like Serenity and our vacation. Okay?"

………

Evening arrived before anyone was prepared for it, with the exception of the Kaiba estate servants. Seto had arranged for Andre, his retired chauffeur, to drive for the evening. His duties would include picking up Pegasus from his private jet and returning him to it at the appropriate time.

For the occasion the three boys had made deviations from their usual attire. It was obvious to Joey that Mokuba had found his way back to Gothic Goodness. The kid was all belts and silver chains, from his black biker boots to the three looping belts around the waist of his black jeans and the chains that draped across his chest over a red T-shirt hanging from his black leather vest. Mokuba would have made Yugi proud had he been here to see the younger Kaiba.

Seto went sleek and formal in a slim cut white suit with a black silk shirt. He had sent his puppy into a panic an hour before Pegasus' arrival when he asked Jou if he'd thought about what he was going to wear. At the bewildered look on Joey's face, Seto shook his head and shoved a box at Jou. "Some of us plan ahead, Pup."

Jou was almost afraid to open the box, expecting a fancy monkey suit or a ridiculous trench coat. What he found instead was a luxuriously supple and classy dark green leather blazer and a black stretch silk muscle shirt. He threw on a pair of faded blue jeans and grinned at himself in the mirror. He looked _hot._

He went to the mansion looking for Seto peeking in various rooms and wandering the hallways. Seto caught his stalker searching for him and snuck up behind him silently.

"Looking for something?"

"Crap!" Joey wheeled on his lover startled out of his wits.

Seto smirked. "Pretty dragon-pup, did I frighten you?" He looked Jou over. "I know what I'm having for dessert."

"Uh…guys? He's here." Mokuba announced.

"Let the show begin." Seto headed to the music parlor where he had instructed Liz to take their guest. Mokuba fell in step beside Joey exchanging apprehensive looks before following Seto.

The parlor was about as homey and welcoming as a deep freeze. It was a large, stark room done entirely in white. Three white couches formed a U shape in the center of the room. A white baby grand piano set off to one side, an empty glass bar was on another side of the room, glass top occasional tables displayed white orchids in crystal vases, and the walls and the floor were painfully unadorned.

Pegasus waited patiently, serenely sophisticated in a black silk suit and red ascot. He suspected Kaiba of choosing this room intentionally, knowing that his guest would be uncomfortable without things of beauty on which to cast his eye.

As Seto pushed open the French doors and entered the room all trace of the brother and lover vanished; his doppelganger, the Ice Man, had taken command. The difference was as dramatic as the difference in Yugi when Yami was in control of his host's body.

Pegasus rose to greet his host and his son with the ever-present Croquet at his back.

Silence.

Joey and Mokuba exchanged another look, wordlessly confirming that they would both like to run screaming from the building.

"Pegasus." Seto said and gave his guest a short stiff bow. "Welcome to my home."

"Thank you for inviting me, Kaiba-boy." Pegasus could not hide a slight smirk.

Joey could feel Seto tense beside him and noticed that the brunette's fingers were twitching. He could almost see the gears working in Seto's mind, plotting how many ways he could take Pegasus out before Croquet interfered…uh, intervened. But Pegasus' attention was focused solely on Joey.

"Joseph?"

"Yeah? Do you think you could call me Jou or Joey?"

"Hmm…well, you can call me Max. Agreed?"

"I'd rather call you Pegasus, if you don't mind."

"And I'd prefer to call you Joseph, if it's all the same to you."

"You can call me Kaiba." Seto interjected with a small snarl. "_Just_ Kaiba."

Mokuba's eyes passed to each of them in turn as the conversation deteriorated. He started easing his way toward the door, taking comfort in the presence of an escape route. Behind his dark sunglasses, Croquet rolled his eyes and prepared for action without giving any outward sign of it.

"Hmph…all this wealth and you still haven't managed to acquire a sense of humor, Kaiba-boy." Pegasus taunted.

"You are a guest in my home…" Kaiba started moving forward.

Joey casually stepped on the brunet's foot and earned himself a glare. "Seto, do you play the piano?"

"Yes." He answered shortly.

"Really, Kaiba? You are a man of many talents." Pegasus smirked. He was secretly delighted by how easily his son was able to counter Kaiba's charge. "As our gracious host, perhaps you'd care to entertain us?"

"Fine. Make yourselves comfortable." Seto stalked over to the baby grand and sat down.

Joey grabbed Mokuba by the chains on his vest and pulled him over to the nearest couch where they both sat as if they were about to endure some sort of perverse torture. Pegasus seated himself on the center couch and raised an eyebrow at the two younger boys.

Seto started playing Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' with flawless precision, although he performed it in such a way that it would have been more aptly called 'Ode to Rage'. As he finished, Pegasus applauded and Jou and Mokuba belatedly joined in unenthusiastically. Seto graced his lover and brother with a dirty look.

"Lovely, simply lovely, Kaiba." Pegasus praised. "I've never heard it performed with such emotion before." Kaiba glared at him, but Pegasus' expression was completely innocent.

"Mokuba, would you show our guests to the dining room?" Seto asked.

"Uh…okay." Mokuba got up and went to the doors, feeling weird about leading the one-eyed kidnapper and his head rude goon through the Kaiba mansion.

Joey had already begun to follow Croquet out when Seto ordered, "Mutt, stay."

Pegasus heard the command and raised an eyebrow, filing the odd nickname away for later perusal.

Seto still sat at the baby grand and Jou went to him. Their eyes locked and Seto let out the breath he was holding. "We need to be very clear on one thing, Jou."

"What's that?"

"If he ever does _anything_ to hurt you, I _will_ kill him."

Joey lowered his eyes. The intensity in Seto's gaze was too much to bear. "We shouldn't leave Mokuba alone with them too long."

"Jou, look at me. I have to know that you understand what I'm telling you."

Joey was more intent on changing the subject than acknowledging Seto's capacity to do murder, so instead of answering him, Jou kissed him.

"Big brother!" Mokuba stamped his foot in irritation. He grabbed Jou's arm and pulled him away from Seto. "I knew you two couldn't be left alone together!"

Joey was relieved by his awkward rescue and followed Mokuba out of the room with Seto on his heels. They entered the dining room together and Seto went to the head of the table. Joey took his place on Seto's left and Mokuba sat beside him. Pegasus sat on Seto's right with Croquet standing behind and slightly to the left of his master in a perfect position to tackle their host should he find it necessary to do so.

Seto raised his eyebrows at the bodyguard and gave Pegasus a contemptuous look that said 'coward'. Pegasus smiled thinly in response and waited for someone to say something, anything. The silence was deafening. This was not the most talkative bunch of teenagers.

"Joseph, I must express my condolences on the loss of your father. I am certain he was a good man. You must miss him terribly." Pegasus said sincerely.

Anger warred with a need to keep things civil in Joey's mind. It was so like Pegasus to hit a nerve.

"Yeah, _my_ father never chained me up in a dungeon." The words were out before Joey knew what he was going to say.

Seto smirked, Croquet frowned, Pegasus blinked in surprise, and Mokuba fell victim to a fit of hysterical giggles and then fell out of his chair, doubling over on the floor. After a stunned moment, Pegasus and Joey laughed along with Mokuba's gale force giggles. Seto was disappointed; he'd lost his opportunity to strangle Pegasus…for now.

Joey scooped Mokuba up off the floor and got him back in his chair, but the ebony-haired boy avoided looking at Pegasus the rest of the evening for fear of another giggling fit. A fact of which Max was undeniably aware. Throughout the many courses of their formal meal, he kept a small part of his attention focused on the younger Kaiba and never missed the opportunity to try to crack the kid up. Joseph and the elder Kaiba seemed distracted. Mokuba fidgeted nervously and made architectural designs out of his food to avoid Pegasus' attention.

With some of the tension dissipated and supper winding down, the diners' polite small talk became tedious. Pegasus watched the interaction between his son and Kaiba closely. He finally knew why Joseph was with Kaiba-boy; he was simply mystified that he hadn't thought of it sooner. The only other person Kaiba would go out of his way to protect was his little brother, therefore it naturally followed that Seto's defensive stance on the subject of Joseph came from love. They were oddly perfect for each other. It would take someone far more demented and far less sensitive than he was to attempt to drive them apart.

Now, if only he could convince Kaiba of that.

"Umm…Pegasus, would you like to see my apartment? It's nothing much…" Joey invited hesitantly.

"Of course I would, Joseph."

Outside the apartment Pegasus stopped Croquet. "Would you retrieve that package?"

Croquet bowed and left.

"What package?" Jou asked.

"It's a gift, Joseph, though you probably won't want it." Pegasus said sadly. They entered the apartment. Jou flicked on the lights and Pegasus nearly had a heart attack on the spot.

Joey knew the painting would have an impact but hadn't expected such a dramatic reaction. He had had no difficulty accepting Cecelia as his mother. The angelic beauty easily filled the void that Maria Wheeler had created. Pegasus had tears running down his face and Joey was a little ashamed of his thoughtlessness.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hung it. I should have warned you…" Jou shut up when his father faced him. Pegasus' expression was of sheer childlike wonder and joy. Joey felt everything he thought he knew about the man in front of him slip away and a strangely familiar darkness open its maw ready to swallow him again. "Uggh…"

Jou quickly sat down on the futon and put his head between his legs.

"Joseph? Jou?" Pegasus said bewildered and worried as his son took carefully measured deep breaths.

"I'm fine…I was just a little light-headed is all." Jou finally answered.

Croquet returned carrying a large flat wooden crate which he sat on the floor near Joey. He gave Pegasus a quick glance to confirm that his boss was okay as he left, taking an unobtrusive post on the balcony.

Joey puzzled over the crate. "It's one of your paintings, isn't it?"

"Yes." Pegasus pulled out the office chair from the computer desk and sat down. "You don't have to open it now. I'd actually like to hear about that one." He said indicating the painting over Jou's head. "Are there others?"

"I have a sketchpad."

"May I see it?" When Pegasus had first seen the painting of Cecelia and Red Eyes on Jou's wall, he was awestruck on so many different levels at once he was rendered speechless, a state which he had seldom fallen victim to during the course of his life. Joey retrieved his sketchpad and a kitchen chair which he straddled backwards. He wanted to be able to see what Pegasus was looking at and try to gauge his reaction to it.

"Hmm…why don't you paint more, Joseph?"

Joey shrugged. "I guess I don't feel like it very often." He looked up at the wall. "I started that one before I even knew who she was. I dreamed about the fire my dad died in every time I went to sleep…" He hesitated before continuing. "I met her."

Pegasus gave him a startled questioning look. "In your dream?"

"No. She was there that night, the night of the fire."

"That isn't possible, Joseph. She died when you were barely two months old."

"I know. Tea found your journal and read it to us after Yugi won your tournament." Joey replied warily.

Pegasus' eye went wide. His sanctuary. Those snoopy kids had gone back to his sanctuary. He sighed. "You met her?"

"She was a spirit. Somehow she was drawn to me. She probably saved my life. My dad and I got separated, I went looking for him, but it was too late. I just wanted to give up, but she tried to keep me awake. She managed to get…someone's attention to get me out of there." Joey tried to make a long story short. "There was this one dream I had about the fire. It changed at the point where she found me. She took me to the Shadow Realm and brought Red Eyes to me."

Joey's words triggered something deep in Pegasus' mind. Why was Cecelia in the Shadow Realm? And he knew she actually was in the Shadow Realm, but he didn't know _how_ he knew. Memories drifted just beyond his reach and he struggled with a sense of apprehension. He had forgotten something of great importance.

Joey was rummaging in a kitchen drawer looking for tools to open the crate with. Finding a hammer, he went to on work prying the crate apart.

"Your mother asked me to paint this for her." Pegasus said feeling dazed.

Jou got the crate open and pulled away the packaging. He gaped in awe at the painting completely unaware that his face mirrored the expression on Pegasus' when he had seen Jou's work. The way Pegasus was portrayed on this canvas was totally different from the image Jou carried in his mind: tender, loving, sensual, and proud of the little child he'd helped bring into the world. It brought home to Jou the fact that Maximillion Pegasus really was his father in a way nothing else had. Pegasus had loved him, truly loved him.

"Why? Why did you give me up?" Joey asked in a choked voice.

"I don't have an answer that can really justify my actions, Jou." Pegasus went and sat beside him on the floor. "In a way, I was trying to punish myself. I felt there was something I could have done to prevent your mother's death and that I didn't deserve to have a child. I knew at that point in my life I wasn't capable of raising you on my own."

Joey reached out and tentatively touched the baby in the painting. "It's okay. I think I understand."

"Really?" Pegasus was stunned by Jou's simple acceptance. He opened his arms to his only child and, for the first time in seventeen years, held his son.

Joey relaxed in the embrace and laid his head on his father's shoulder. As hard as it had been to accept, he belonged to the silver-haired maniac, and finally, he felt he would be able to live with it.


	28. Chapter 28 Hollow Quarrels and Metal Win...

Chapter 28: Hollow Quarrels and Metal Wings

A/N:

I had a bit of a nasty shock when I finally looked up the time zones for this fic. Eastern Standard Time (New York time) is 14 hours _behind_ Japan time. So as I'm writing this it is 11:06 AM on Thursday in New York, but in Japan it is 1:06 AM on Friday. I have no idea what the actual flight time from Japan to New York is so I'm going to say it's 14 hours. According to my reasoning, which could be wrong, if you left Japan and flew to New York your arrival time would be roughly the same as your departure time. Now that you're all scratching your heads, please read the chapter, maybe it will make more sense…

……..

The telephone rang abruptly, startling both father and son. Joey pulled away from their embrace and picked it up. "Yeah?"

"Joey?" A panicked voice asked.

A shadow settled over Jou's heart, carrying an uncomfortable weight with it. "Sis, what's wrong?"

"Joey, it's terrible. I need you. I need you to come here now." Serenity cried brokenly.

"Serenity, calm down. Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on."

She did her best to comply, but she was too badly shaken for even those efforts to have any effect. "It's Mom, Joey. We were on our way here. I have…I had…I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment…" She sobbed.

"Were you in an accident, Serenity? Are you hurt? Let me talk to Mom." Joey was starting to get frantic himself. He had to find out what was going on.

"She… the doctors…they told me that she's brain dead…" Serenity managed to get out. "I don't know what to do. I'm so scared, Joey."

"Did you get hurt?" Jou asked her again, trying his best not to panic. He had to be the strong, level-headed one here, for Serenity.

"No. Joey, she was driving to the clinic…and she just collapsed. I got the car to the side of the road and called 911."

"You did good, Serenity. I'll be there as soon as I can. Call Tristan and tell him what's going on. Is there anyone there with you?"

"N-no."

"Find someone…a friend, a neighbor, a hospital volunteer…which hospital are you at?"

"St. Vincent's."

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Jou reassured her.

"Okay." She answered him shakily. "Big brother, I love you."

"Love you too, Sis." He disconnected and stared off into space for a stunned moment before hitting a speed dial number.

"Yo."

"Tris, pack a bag for a few days and grab your passport. Serenity will call you and explain." Joey disconnected again without waiting for a reply and hit another number.

"Kaiba."

"Seto, we have to leave for New York tonight. Serenity just called. She said something happened to our…her mother." Pegasus laid a hand on Joey's shoulder. "Seto, hang on a minute…"

"Perhaps we could use my jet. It's far more comfortable than a helicopter and its already refueled and ready to go." Pegasus offered. Joey listened to Seto grumble on the telephone until he finally agreed.

"Okay." Joey accepted Pegasus' offer, and then quickly called Yugi to let him know what was going on. Pegasus filled Croquet in as Jou grabbed his overnight bag, threw a few things in it and allowed Croquet to take it from him.

Seto joined them at the bottom of the steps to Jou's apartment. "Andre will take us to the jet as soon as you're ready, Jou."

"We have to pick up Tristan."

Seto's eyes narrowed. "Why is Sharkhead Boy going?"

"He _is_ Serenity's boyfriend. Please don't call him that. It's bad enough that you call me dog names." Jou said tersely. He'd had more than enough stress for one day without Seto insulting his friends.

Mokuba had pulled a wheeled suitcase with Seto's briefcase precariously balanced on top up behind his brother just in time to hear the argument begin.

"As if you and your friends don't call me names behind my back." Seto snarled. "I know all about your punching bag with my face plastered on it."

Uh oh, Mokuba thought, I shouldn't have told him about that.

"And your asinine password." Seto finished.

Joey was furious that Seto had chosen now, when he desperately needed to get to his sister, to start this fight. "You're just jealous because you don't have any friends!" Jou snapped and belatedly realized how brutal his words were.

"You're right, Jou. I don't. I don't need any like the rest of you pathetic morons. Come on, Mokuba." The proud CEO stalked back to his mansion.

Mokuba didn't move. "Good job, Joey," he congratulated the other boy sarcastically.

"Would you call Tristan and have him meet us here?" Joey asked Mokuba before he sprinted across the yard.

……….

For what seemed like the millionth time, he pounded on Seto's bedroom door.

"Go away, Jou. Go to your sister. _She_ needs you," Seto growled from behind the portal.

"Open the door, Seto, we need to talk."

"It's not locked, dumbass."

Joey just about turned around and walked away right then. Maybe Seto was right. Jou didn't need him, or the extra aggravation. Nevertheless, he went ahead and walked into the room anyway. He might not have needed Seto, but wanted him more than anything.

Seto sat at his desk glaring at the blond intruder. "I am _not _a dumbass," Jou said firmly, matching glare for glare.

"Is that all you came to tell me? You needn't have bothered."

"No." Jou said through clenched teeth. "I came to apologize. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did."

Seto sighed and Jou knelt beside him. "You're not a dumbass, Jou. If you really wanted me to quit calling you dog names you should have told me."

Joey laughed. "Yeah, right! I told you like a thousand times!"

"What you said about my not having any friends was just the truth, Jou. People gravitate to you so easily. I can't help feeling like I'll lose you to one of them."

"I love _you_, dragon master. It's been a rough day and it's not true. I'm your lover and your friend…whatever you want, I'll be." His piece said, Jou kissed Seto gently.

"Jou, take your clothes off."

He got up and did as he was told. Seto, still fully dressed, stood and pulled Joey against his body, running his hands over Jou's luxuriously bare skin and then tangling his fingers in the gold mane. Seto loved the feel of Jou's naked unresisting body in his arms. He kissed Jou's neck, listening with delight to the noises his lover made.

Joey pulled away from him. "You wear too many clothes."

"You complain too much." Seto shot back, more than ready to shed the offensive garments. Anything that came between them could not be good.

"We gotta kinda make this quick." Joey whispered as he helped Seto strip off his clothes.

"Shower."

"What?"

"We'll do it in the shower-save time." Seto explained.

"Yeah. Good idea."

They managed to get in the bathroom without letting go of each other or interrupting their kissing marathon.

……….

Tristan pulled up on his bike and met the others without any trouble. On the phone, Mokuba had told him that Pegasus had been at the mansion for supper when Serenity called and was loaning them the use of his jet. Mokuba had also hinted that there was going to be some sort of delay.

He had very bad vibes about the whole situation. While he was not thrilled about going anywhere with Kaiba or Pegasus, let alone with both of them on a small jet flying over a large body of water, he was mostly anxious about Serenity. A girlfriend was coming to sit with her at the hospital, but he hadn't been able to comfort her much over the phone.

"Mokuba, where's Joey, and your brother for that matter?" Tristan demanded, ignoring the other two men.

"Uh…" Mokuba's face turned red.

"Are they in the mansion? I'll get their rears in gear. Don't you know it isn't safe to leave them alone together?" Tristan started toward the mansion as Mokuba thought to himself that Tristan was right, but for all the wrong reasons.

"I doubt that's a good idea." Pegasus objected. "They had a bit of a lover's quarrel."

That went over Tristan's head, but a moment later Seto and Jou came out of the mansion with identical wet heads. Pegasus noticed Kaiba's wardrobe change. He was now dressed in black jeans, a black dress shirt and a white sleeveless trench coat.

"Are we ready, people?" Kaiba asked as he headed over to the limo.

Joey met up with Tristan and they high-fived a greeting. Tristan noticed their hair. _Lover's quarrel?_ "Ah, geez, Jou, when are you going to learn to keep your pants zipped?" Tristan hissed under his breath while they were out of the others' earshot. "And Kaiba too! Man, that's disgusting!"

Joey grinned a cat-who-ate-the-canary grin, but like the cat, said nothing.

The passenger compartment of the limo had two facing seats with plenty of legroom. Croquet sat in front with Andre. Tristan and Joey sat with their backs to the limo driver's window. Pegasus, Seto, and Mokuba sat in the other seat, in that order, with Seto keeping Mokuba smashed against the door in an effort to keep both of them as far away from the Duel Monsters creator as possible.

Pegasus smirked slightly at the seating arrangement. Joey pushed the button to open the dividing window, turned in his seat, and chatted amicably with Andre. Pegasus' smirk turned into an indulgent little smile. That kid could charm the stripes off a zebra, he thought to himself, and his smile grew broader as he realized how greatly that annoyed Kaiba.

……….

The flight itself _would_ have been peaceful had Joey not challenged Pegasus to a duel right after take off.

"Ya know, Pegasus, I came _real_ close to challenging you at the castle…" Joey started.

"Yes, and I would have missed seeing you reduced to a cowering dog again." As gruff as Seto's words were, the accusation in his voice and his glare were solely reserved for Pegasus.

Croquet stiffened, but Tristan was the first to move, intending to throttle Seto for insulting Joey. Mokuba got between the two brunets in an attempt to defend his not exactly defenseless brother while Pegasus sat quietly, wondering if Kaiba had ever heard of the concept of forgiveness. Joey stood and put a hand on Tristan's shoulder.

"Chill out, Tris."

"You know, Jou, I don't get you. Don't you realize we're fraternizing with the enemy here?" Tristan demanded angrily. "And what about him?" Tristan jerked a thumb at Seto. "He started it!"

"And nobody asked you to get in the middle of it." Seto retorted.

"We all know Seto and Pegasus have issues, Tris, but they're just going to have to get over it." Pegasus and Seto looked at each other in surprise. "Because I'm not giving either of them up."

Weird and unlikely images popped into Tristan's head as he tried to draw some sort of conclusion from Jou's words. _No way…Kaiba and Pegasus?_ "What the heck are you talking about, Jou! Have you completely lost your mind! Kaiba's your boyfriend, which is crazy enough, but Pegasus…?"

"Is my father."

Relief mixed with an urge to to do physical damage to the blond. This was the second bombshell that his best buddy had dropped on him in less than that many hours, and his fists clenched, itching for something to hit. Unfortunately, the first likely target was Joey's face, and as good as both Seto and Croquet's reflexes were, neither was fast enough to block Tristan's swing.

Jou blocked the fist easily, spinning Tristan around and neatly pinning his arm to his back as he pushed his friend against the nearest bulkhead.

"Ya know, you mighta told me." Tristan grumbled.

"Sorry." Joey said, letting him go. "I knew you'd flip out."

"Yeah, well…you still should have told me. So…we're stuck with him?" Tristan indicated Pegasus with his head.

"Yep."

Tristan looked at Seto. "Both of them?"

"Yep."

Tristan reached out and grabbed Seto by the lapels of his trench coat. "You _ever_ imply that Jou is a coward in front of me again and I'll knock your block off!" That said, he went off to sulk, trying to digest the news of Joey's parentage.

Seto glowered at Jou. "Remind me why you insisted he come along?"

"Because my sister and I need him, Seto, maybe me more than her. He's been there with me through the worst crap in my life."

"Yes, well…" Pegasus interjected. "You said you missed the opportunity to duel me, Joseph?"

"Are you challenging me?" Joey grinned mischievously.

"Just for fun…to pass the time?" Pegasus suggested.

None of them could hide their interest in this match. Even Croquet's whiskers twitched in anticipation.

"I never back down from a challenge." Jou smirked. "Bring it on, Pops."

There was a collective gasp of surprise and Pegasus choked on the wine he'd been sipping. Croquet patted him on the back until he recovered.

"Take him down, Jou." Seto encouraged his lover with a slightly evil glint in his eyes.

Joey grinned at the otherteen and gave him a thumbs up.

"I get absolutely no respect." Pegasus pouted playfully. He had no intention of cutting Joseph any slack. If he did, his son would certainly pick up on it, would probably be insulted by it, and rightfully so.

They exchanged decks, shuffled, cut, and returned them to their rightful owners. A coin toss determined that Jou would make the first move.

Seto, Mokuba, and Tristan peered over the blonde duelist's shoulder as he drew his hand.

"Hmm…" Seto commented.

Mokuba stood on tiptoe and whispered to his brother behind his hand.

"I haven't even made a move yet!" Joey complained.

The two Kaibas shut up. Joey played two cards face down and ended his turn.

"Hey, are you sure that's what you want to do?" Tristan asked.

"Everyone's a critic! Could you guys please give me a little space?"

The three dark-haired teens reluctantly backed off. Pegasus fought to keep a straight face, but it was difficult not to laugh at his son's ordeal.

"I'll just play one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn." Pegasus drawled.

"At this rate, this is going to be the most boring duel I've ever seen." Seto huffed.

Joey played another card in face down in defense, he couldn't afford to make any mistakes. After all, father or not, Millennium Eye or not, he was still dueling against _Pegasus_. Jou played the trap card Jar of Greed which allowed him to draw an extra card from his deck and ended his turn.

Seto sighed in exasperation, but Jou ignored him.

Pegasus played yet another monster face down in defense and then played Stop Defense against one of Jou's defensive monsters forcing it to be placed in attack position. Then he flipped his first monster up into attack position as well. Pegasus' Cure Mermaid battled Jou's Swordsman of Landstar and Jou lost a thousand life points.

Seto winced.

"Hey, Jou, you aren't going to let your old man get the best of you, are you?" Tristan meant well, in spite of being irritating.

Now it was Pegasus who winced. At thirty-seven, he was hardly old, regardless of what these children thought.

"It's only the second round. You've got time to make a comeback, Joey." Mokuba encouraged.

Jou grinned at Mokuba and said to no one in particular, "Well, I know who _really _loves me."

He proceeded to draw his next card. Pegasus had done some damage, but as Mokuba said, it wasn't fatal and he still had his other face down card, which he flipped up now.

"I play Big Eye in attack mode and activate its special ability." He then looked at the five cards on the top of his deck. Big Eye allowed him to look at them, place them in any order he wished, and return them to the top of his deck. He had to take out Cure Mermaid because her special ability gave Pegasus an extra 800 life points every time it became Joey's turn. Pegasus now had 4800 life points and Jou 3000. Cure Mermaid had 1500 attack points and Big Eye only 1200. Jou pulled Gearfried the Iron Knight from his hand, attacking and sending the pesky fish to the graveyard. As a bonus, he managed to cause his father to lose 300 life points.

"Sorry, Pops." Jou smirked.

Pegasus shrugged both the battle damage and the inane nickname off. There were worse things Jou could call him and by the devious glint in the boy's eyes, he knew his son was merely teasing. So like his mother…

"And I play Just Desserts." Jou now had 4000 life points again and Pegasus 4500. "And I end my turn."

"Hm…Well, I shall send my face down card…Niwatori, to the graveyard in order to summon another monster which I shall play face down in defense mode."

"Hey, Niwatori…I never told you guys about Drumstick. Now he was a good bird." Jou looked over at Seto, "Seems like you still owe me a thank you for helping pull your butt outta that VR game. Ya know, I coulda died in there and all you could say was 'Wheeler, you look like a monkey.'"

Pegasus gave Croquet the evil eye. Apparently there were still some details his head of security had neglected to report to him about the VR game fiasco.

Croquet cleared his throat and stared straight ahead.

"Croquet?"

"Yes, Master Pegasus?"

"Did you conveniently forget to mention a few details…?"

"Kaiba had some assistance in escaping the VR world." Croquet admitted.

"Yeah. A lot of assistance!" Tristan shot Seto a dirty look. "Tea and I held off both Pegasus' and the Big Five's hired goons while Yugi, Mokuba, and Jou went in to save Kaiba's scrawny neck and did he appreciate it? No. Big tough guy thinks he can do everything himself!"

Seto stood, in his eyes blue flames danced. "I didn't ask for or need your help."

Once again, Mokuba got between the two tall brunettes. "Hey. _I_ asked for the help and _I_ was grateful to have my big brother back."

Joey and Pegasus exchanged a look across the table.

"Shall we continue?" Pegasus asked his son.

"Uh huh." Jou agreed.

The duel ended up being quite lengthy. Jou dueled at the top of his game. More than once he had Pegasus cornered and the Duel Monsters creator managed to escape defeat as much by luck as by skill. In the end, Pegasus was victorious by a scant 50 life points and agreed with Tristan that his son was no coward. Happy, proud, and exhausted, Pegasus excused himself and retired to his private cabin.

Croquet showed the rest of them where the pillows and blankets were and went to see the pilot. Tristan and Mokuba found the fully reclining seats quite comfortable. Jou snuggled into Seto and instantly fell asleep. Seto was blissfully content to finally have his puppy back where he belonged.

As they flew, Pegasus' jet slipped through time by a magic known as science. Serenity had called Jou at 8:00 AM from New York, and they would land there at 10:00 PM, approximately the time of their departure from Domino.


	29. Chapter 29 Life Forever Changes

Chapter 29: Life Forever Changes

Disclaimer: The Yugioh franchise is not mine, however the poem at the beginning of the chapter is.

………

As Joey slept, safe and snug in Seto's embrace, his sleeping mind wandered through a brightly lit technicolor stone structure. He felt as though he had been digitally inserted into some twisted cartoon creation, complete with mellow strains of music and soft sounds that served as homing beacons to him, though just what he was homing in on remained a mystery to him.

Eventually, he found himself in what could only be described as a throne room, the source of the sweet melody. Inside, a young queen sat on a low stool, her lavender-blue gown flowing out all around her, golden curls framing her face. As she sang, she rocked her child's elaborate cradle;

The seasons of my mind

Have no reason,

Have no rhyme.

Cycling through the life stream,

An endless circle wheeling

In kaleidoscopic view-

All the colors of the rainbow

Are by comparison few.

Life forever changes

Through the seasons of my mind…

Mother, Jou thought, reaching out towards her, but the vision was already fading.

………

Pegasus' jet, _Illusionary Airs_, landed in New York at 10:15 PM Eastern Standard Time. Seto spent at least twenty minutes trying to explain the concept of time zones to Jou, who was becoming more confused by the second until, finally, Tristan shook his head and fed Joey a slightly more simplified version.

"Look, Jou, you know how Pegasus had a magic eye? He used it to put a spell on the jet to make it into a time machine. It only _seemed _like we were in the air for fourteen hours. In reality, we just traveled a few minutes in time."

Pegasus pondered this for a moment, wondering briefly if he had truly understood the full capabilities of the Millennium Eye. _Hmmm…time travel._ _Perhaps I could have used it to change the past, to save her before this entire mess ever occurred_. The Duel Monsters creator dismissed this thought as quickly as it had invaded his mind. _Useless fantasies will not bring her back._

"Thanks, Tris, but I'm not buying it." Jou scowled.

"You certainly could afford it!" Tristan grumbled.

Pegasus sighed. "And Kaiba could invent a time machine. Perhaps we should get a taxi or two and proceed to our destination?"

They procured a pair of Yellow Cabs and split into two groups. Jou, Pegasus, and Croquet took the first taxi while Seto, Mokuba, and Tristan occupied the second. This arrangement annoyed Seto, who would have preferred that Tristan had been stuck with Pegasus instead of his beloved puppy. The feeling was more than mutual; Tristan, for his part, would have liked to put Pegasus, Croquet, and Kaiba in one cab and send them on a cross country expedition, preferably in a different country.

Pegasus was quite content, on the other hand. Their taxi driver was Arabic and spoke only limited English, but Max used his perfectly inflected Arabic to sweet talk the driver into taking them on the most direct route to St. Vincent's Hospital. That done, he sat back and assumed the role of tour guide, pointing out things to his long lost progeny as they passed them.

"It's weird, ya know. I was born here, but it still seems pretty surreal." Jou confided in his father, fascinated by the strange country.

"That's quite understandable, Joseph, because you weren't born here."

Jou stared at the silver-haired man in surprise. "Huh?"

"You were born at Castle Pegasus."

Jou's jaw dropped, and his father took this as his cue to provide an explanation.

"We hired an Egyptian nurse who also happened to be a midwife. Cecelia became quite fond of her and had her stay on as your nanny. Anya was a godsend, especially when your mother became ill. When she wasn't looking after you, she was at Cecelia's bedside."

"I was born on Duelist Kingdom." Jou said in awe. "I was born to duel."

Pegasus grinned. "It wasn't Duelist Kingdom then, of course, simply Pegasus Isle. My father, your grandfather, was quite vain."

At this, Croquet snorted.

"Christopher? Is there a problem?" His employer arched one elegant eyebrow as he spoke, the faintest trace of a smile ghosting across his lips.

"Uh…nothing, sir," the other replied. "Just a tickle in my throat."

……….

A few minutes later, the six were at St. Vincent's hospital. Patiently, they followed brightly coloured arrows and various signs through a twisted labyrinth of corridors to the ICU.

After ten minutes of this, Jou began to whine that Seto's VR maze had been easier to navigate, and Mokuba acted quickly to avert a potential disaster. "Be quiet, Joey. Don't you remember what happened the last time you brought that up?" Fortunately for them, no one else seemed to be paying attention to Seto's sidekicks at the moment.

Jou blushed in embarrassment as he went on alone to the ICU ward and asked the desk nurse for Maria Wheeler's room number.

"You must be Serenity's brother," the nurse smiled at him and Jou nodded. "She's in Unit 12."

Apprehensively, the blond strode over to the unit, took a deep breath, and crossed the threshold.

"Joey?" Serenity straightened in her chair and rubbed her bloodshot eyes as he entered.

"Yeah, Sis. I'm here."

"I'm so glad." She hugged Jou tightly and began to cry into his chest.

He looked over her head at the woman in the hospital bed. _She's not my mother_, Jou thought to himself fiercely, yet he couldn't help feeling a distant heartache. There had been a time when she had been the one he ran to when he scraped his knees, the one who had read him and Serenity bedtime stories. She looked nothing like the woman he had said good-bye to a couple months ago at the Domino airport; all of her facial muscles were slack and she looked at least ten years older, but Joey just couldn't shake the memories or the feelings they kindled in him. It didn't matter what she looked like; she was still Maria Wheeler.

Serenity pulled away just far enough to be able to look up into her brother's face. "The doctors want to turn off the machines. They say there's no chance she'll get any better. She had a massive stroke."

Comfortingly, he drew Serenity back into his arms and looked at the woman who had tried to be his mother. "I'll take care of her, Mom. I promise." Even if Maria had been able to hear him, though, he doubted that she would have been reassured, but Serenity looked up at him in total adoration.

"Hey, there's someone in the waiting room who can't wait to see you," he grinned, allowing the gesture to dispel as much of the darkness around them as it could, however temporarily.

"Tristan!" Serenity squealed, and Joey's grin broadened.

"Yeah. Now, go pretty yourself up, though I doubt he'll know the difference."

Serenity went into the bathroom for a few moments, leaving Jou alone with Maria for what seemed to the blonde like twice the time it had taken them to get from Domino to New York. She looked a little better when she came out, but her eyes began to fill with tears again when they settled inevitably on her mother's prone body.

"It's not fair that this happened to her. We just lost Dad," she whispered, and Jou gathered her up into his arms once again, pressing a reassuring kiss to her forehead as he rocked her shuddering form gently.

……….

Tristan was on his feet as soon as he saw her, and she quite literally jumped into his arms, clinging to him as though her life depended on it as she broke into wordless sobs.

He sat back down on the couch, pulling Serenity into his lap and letting her cry it out. Silent communication passed over her head between the two young men who loved her, and Joey's eyes confirmed that the situation was as bad as Tristan had feared it would be.

"I'm so sorry, Sweetness," Tristan whispered as he stroked her hair softly.

Recognizing the necessity of leaving Tristan and Serenity alone, Jou motioned for the others to follow him into the hallway, where he told them just what was going on.

"How do you feel about taking your mother off life support, Joseph?" Pegasus asked once he was finished.

Joey frowned. "It's up to Serenity."

"That's not fair, Joey! You can't force her to make such a decision in that state!" Mokuba said, gesturing back to the waiting room.

"Mokuba's right, Jou. In fact, it would be better for all concerned if you made the decision for her," Seto added.

"Maria's not _my_ mother. She never gave a damn about me. She took Serenity away, broke my dad's heart, and abandoned me! How do you think I feel!" Joey glared at the three of them and stalked off in a vain attempt to cool down.

Seto started to go after him, but Pegasus stopped him. "Please, may I?"

"No, you may not. I don't want you anywhere near him." Seto attempted to push past the older man, but Pegasus proved to be as immovable as a granite statue.

"You may sleep with him, Kaiba-boy, but you don't own him."

Pegasus' voice held a dangerous edge that Seto remembered only too well. It reminded him that Pegasus was a master of illusion, inhuman and insane; Jou was simply too naïve to know better.

"Neither do you." He knew the lay of the land now; this time, he would _not _lose.

"You may find that the tighter you hold on to something, the more inevitable it is that you will lose it." Pegasus' voice was now more venomous than sharp, but Seto met it as he did everything else, with his own haughty attitude.

"Enough of your philosophy, Pegasus. You have no right to him, no place playing the doting daddy when all you're capable of is misdirection and betrayal."

"You tell him, Seto!" Mokuba cheered his brother on.

Meanwhile, Tristan and Serenity had heard the commotion from the waiting room and had gone to see what was going on.

"Where's my big brother?" Serenity asked anxiously, and her tone reminded the feuding men that they had more important things to concern themselves with right then.

"Fine. Go to him, Pegasus, but this is not over by any means," Seto conceded, trying to preserve some of his pride.

"Of course it isn't, Kaiba-boy. You must always fight the tide, even when you are the only one being compromised by your efforts." His piece said, Pegasus walked away, feeling stronger than he had since the disastrous finale of the Duelist Kingdom Tournament. He would not have to defeat Kaiba; the boy would do that more than well enough on his own.

………

Pegasus found his son in the chapel down the hall from the ICU, his head buried in his hands as he tried to sort things out.

"May I join you?" Pegasus asked quietly.

Joey nodded without actually raising his head and Pegasus sat beside him, gathering his own thoughts.

"Joseph, how is it that you can forgive me, after all I have done, so easily, while you still harbour such anger toward the dying woman who raised you?" the elder man asked gently, the desire to know weighing on his soul. Surely he had done more despicable things, many of which Joseph had witnessed, than Maria Wheeler was even capable of imagining?

Joey thought the question over, remembering all the people that had loved him over the years. Ghostly Cecelia, determined that her child would survive, had passed from the shadow of death into the land of the living to save him. Pegasus' warm amber-brown eyes in his self-portrait, loving and gentle. His adoptive father, Jonathan, who had told Jou once that the little boy, who biologically belonged to another, had given him the motivation to survive the worst time in his life. Beautiful Seto, whose humanity had been drilled out of him by people who saw only his magnificent brain instead of a young boy who needed as much as any other the love he had been so cruelly denied. Sweet Serenity, who had faced the possibility of a life in darkness with a smile and adored her big brother unconditionally, in spite of the fact that they were not bound by blood.

He had forgiven Pegasus for giving him up and could sympathize with the grief that had driven him to the edge of madness. He was willing to give Pegasus a chance, just as he had been willing to take a chance on Seto once he discovered what lay behind the mask, for Yugi had taught him that people are not always what they seem to be and the amazing power within a gentle nature.

"I wish Yugi were here." Jou said at length.

"We'll have to make do without him for the moment, Joseph." Pegasus replied, shaking his head. "I do sometimes miss that foul gold eye of mine."

"Why? So you could read my mind?" Jou asked, having no desire for his father to reacquire the horrid magic item.

"Oh, it had its advantages. Conventional travel has its drawbacks."

"Huh?"

"Have you ever watched Star Trek, Joseph?"

"Yeah. Who hasn't?"

"Do you remember the transporter?"

Jou nodded, totally confused and wondering what the heck his father was talking about.

"With the abilities of the Millennium Eye, I could open a Shadow portal. It worked somewhat like a transporter, by magic rather than technology. We wouldn't have needed the jet or had to waste fourteen precious hours. I could bring Yugi to you within the space of a heartbeat if only I still had that damnable Eye."

"Uh…I like you better without it," Jou finally decided, groping around frantically in his convoluted mind for an appropriate way of changing the subject. "What happened to you that day at Duelist Kingdom? You left the arena so quickly. We were afraid you wouldn't keep your word to Yugi and we went to find you. Then, we heard a scream and saw you being carried out of the tower, so we went to check things out. Tea found your journal and Yugi found the blank soul cards…"

"I don't remember." Pegasus answered. "Whatever happened sent me into a coma for a year, though." He felt uneasy again, digging for buried memories in his mind as though they were hidden treasure.

"A coma? For a year? But that means…"

"Yes. I only recovered a few months ago." Pegasus nodded.

Gradually, though, Jou's thoughts had strayed from Pegasus back to Maria. "What if they're wrong? Maybe she'll wake up in a few days, or a year? Doctors don't know everything…"

"Perhaps you should hear what the doctors have to say before making a decision, but do not get your hopes up, Joseph. When Cecelia became ill, I felt as you do now. I couldn't accept that I would lose her…but I was wrong." Pegasus sighed as he spoke, dredging up one particular treasure chest that would have been better off buried.

"I'm just thinking about Serenity, about what will happen to her. That woman…I don't care…"

"I think you do, Joseph, whether you are willing to admit it or not."

Joey got up and paced the perimeter of the small chapel, becoming more agitated with every step. He stopped when he got back to his father.

"I have so much, so many people who love me. It shouldn't matter that she couldn't, but it does. She was my mom and I loved her as much as any little boy loves his mother. But then she left me behind. She never looked back, never even acknowledged my birthday. She was supposed to be there for me, but instead she treated me like I was trash, not worth keeping. I was devastated and I took my anger out on anyone who crossed me. It hurt so much…it still does. She's a selfish, hollow person and I hate her!" Joey ranted.

Pegasus stood and pulled the shaking boy into his arms where Jou clung to fistfuls of the too-familiar frilly red suit the older man seemed so fond of, letting his pain overwhelm him. Pegasus had an aura of strength that Joey felt sheltered by, knowing now that this man would never intentionally harm him.

"How is it you can forgive me so willingly?" Pegasus asked again as he felt the onslaught of emotions pass.

Joey wiped his tears on his sleeve. "You're nothing like her at all. You're nothing like I thought you were. I think you feel too much, too deeply, and it hurts."

Unable to resist his paternal impulses any longer, Pegasus brushed shaggy strands of unruly blonde hair out of his son's eyes.

"What will happen to Serenity if Maria dies?" Jou asked, his eyes filled with worry.

"Hmm…I could adopt her. I always wanted a large family…at least a larger one than I have now." Pegasus offered.

Joey's eyes sparkled, the fear banished from the amber orbs for a moment as he stood there, amazed. "You'd really adopt Serenity?"

"Yes, Joseph, I would."

"Would you let us stay in Domino with Seto?" Joey continued, beginning to get excited.

"If Kaiba would agree to it, yes. However, if I expect to be able to spend some time with you, Kaiba will become a problem, Joseph."

"He'll come around eventually." Jou said reassuringly, though his heart said something entirely different.

"Do not count on us becoming one big happy family," cautioned Pegasus sternly. "Seto Kaiba is a man not easily swayed. To him, I will always be a devil. He will not forgive or forget."

Jou felt pain lance through his heart. Of course, deep within him, he knew that truth, but that didn't mean that he had to like or accept it. "Maybe not …or maybe he just needs some time."

Pegasus sighed. "Just don't get your hopes up."

"I won't. Do you really mean it? You'd adopt Serenity?" Jou looked like a kid who'd just seen Santa Claus, and the speed with which his train of thought was switching tracks only served to enhance that impression.

Pegasus' laughter was deep and rich, wonderful to Jou's ears. "Yes, Joseph, I'd love to."

Joey hugged the silver-haired man and ran out of the chapel, nearly flattening Croquet on his way out.

Pegasus smiled at his old friend, still awestruck by what had just happened. "Chris, I'm going to have a family again."

Croquet smiled softly, understanding nothing save for the fact that his master was happy. Of course, to him, that was all that mattered. "Congratulations, Sir."

………..

Jou had gotten a grip on himself by the time he got back to the waiting room, skidding to a halt before his sister, who was sitting beside Tristan and looking slightly calmer. "How ya doing, Sis?"

"I'm okay," she said, trying to reassure him, without much success.

"In the morning, I want to talk to the doctor." Joey crouched down in front of her and took her hands in his. "If there is absolutely no chance Mom will recover, I think it's for the best if we say good-bye and let her go. Okay?"

"Okay." Serenity agreed meekly, her voice choked and painfully thin. "Will I get to come live with you, big brother?"

Jou looked to Seto, who nodded his consent. "Of course, Serenity. You don't seriously think I'd leave you here on your own, do you?"

"No." She shook her head as vehemently as she could, which, considering her current state of mind, lacked the conviction that she felt.

Jou felt his father's presence behind him; even though he hadn't heard the older man at all, he sensed Pegasus' strength and support flow out to him just the same. "Serenity, there's someone I'd like you to meet…"

Serenity looked up at the tall, dignified man in the red suit, whose beautiful silver hair covered one side of his face. Charismatic was the first word that popped into her mind; though he had not uttered a single syllable, he seemed to be a force of nature, like gravity, inescapable and powerful.

"This is Maximillion Pegasus. He's my father." Joey finished, unable to keep a certain level of pride from bleeding into his voice. Somewhere between opening a wooden crate and their talk in the chapel, fear had given way to respect, perhaps even love.

Serenity looked from the new arrival to her brother, feeling very uncertain. "Isn't he…?" She looked back up to Pegasus. It was rude to talk about the man like he wasn't in the room. "You hosted the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, didn't you, sir?" She had heard all about Joey and Tristan's adventures on the island, and neither of the boys had painted a pretty picture of Pegasus.

"Yes, Serenity, I did. I don't know what Joseph and his friends have told you about me, but I am certain it was most unflattering." Pegasus replied, in his most regal manner.

Joey's face turned a rosy shade of pink. "Uh…well, I had a …sorta biased opinion at the time."

Serenity blushed too, but for different reasons. How anyone could see Pegasus as a thieving, lying, cruel, and self-centered madman was beyond her. She felt totally flustered.

"You're pretty." She blurted out, instantly hiding her face in embarrassment. That was so not what she had meant to say.

Pegasus laughed, but not unkindly. Jou turned to look at his father, wondering what Pegasus had done to his sister, and trying to determine why anyone would have the gall to call his father 'pretty'. Handsome, yes. Elegant and sophisticated, yes. But _pretty_?

"Hey! I'm the pretty one in this family!" he pouted.

Pegasus only laughed harder while everyone else watched him with suspicion and Croquet watched _them _with even more suspicionPegasus recovered quickly, though, and crouched before the young girl, gently taking her hand in his own. "Dear Serenity, it's quite all right. I have been cruel and self-centered. I hope that with your and your brother's help I can overcome my flawed nature. Everyone should be given a second chance, don't you agree?" As he spoke, Pegasus looked to Kaiba, expecting no acceptance and receiving none.

"Yes." Serenity answered timidly, finally looking up. She trusted Joey, trusted that he would keep her safe, but she had felt a chill when Pegasus had admitted that he had been cruel and self-centered. Was it just coincidence, or had he actually read her mind?

Jou could restrain his goofy grin no longer. "Serenity, Pegasus has offered to adopt you. We'll never be separated again. We can live in Domino on Seto's estate and go to Duelist Kingdom to visit. Wait until you see the castle, Serenity. It's humongous. You can be a fairy tale princess…"

"No." Seto interjected with finality.

"Why not, Kaiba-boy? Afraid I can give them something you can't?" Pegasus taunted.

Seto had lost his already frayed patience a while ago. Now, he lost his temper. "You are _not _using Jou in some elaborate scheme to take over Kaiba Corp! You may be able to fool him, but _I'm_ not that easy to deceive! You've been trying to dig your power-hungry, cheating claws into my company for years!"

Pegasus blinked in surprise. Maybe Kaiba _did_ truly believe such nonsense on some level of his corporation-saturated brain, but it was far more likely that he was using his business as a cover for his personal concerns. Amused, he chuckled softly. Seto Kaiba was not the only one who was difficult to deceive.

Joey was looking at his significant other as though he had sprouted fins and scales or something equally ludicrous. "I don't think you have anything to say about it, Seto."

"Don't you see what he's up to, Jou? Don't you see how manipulative he is? He seems like a nice guy now, but that is just the sweet coating on some very bad medicine. Open your eyes, Jou! Earlier you were having a fit because he chained Mokuba up in the dungeon! What kind of father could he possibly be!"

Seto would probably have continued raving had a nurse not stopped in the waiting room with an angry scowl on her face. "In case it has escaped your notice, this is a hospital! There are people here with critically ill relatives trying to get some rest. Would you please take your dispute elsewhere?"

At this, Serenity started sobbing again, and Tristan wrapped his arms around her, glaring daggers at the blue-eyed CEO.

"Damn you, Seto!" Jou hissed. "Yeah, I see what Pegasus is up to. He's put a more than generous offer on the table, but all you can do is insult him, hurting Serenity in the process!"

"Would you all just stop it!" Serenity cried as she ran for the ICU.

Jou sighed. "You guys should go to a hotel." He suggested to the two men that he loved. "We'll sort this out tomorrow. Tris, come on."

The two best friends trudged off after Serenity, leaving Pegasus, Seto, Croquet, and Mokuba to their own devices.

The silver-haired businessman arched one eyebrow at Kaiba, who glared back at him before settling in behind his laptop, effectively shutting the rest of the world out.

"Christopher?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Please make arrangements for four hotel rooms relatively close to the hospital."

Croquet bowed as he eyed Kaiba warily, finally deciding that his master would be safe as long as the CEO's hands remained on the keyboard. That worry sated for the time being, he made a hasty exit.

Mokuba looked first at Seto, then at Pegasus. His brother was lost in cyberspace and had virtually abandoned him to their worst enemy. He frowned, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared up at Maximillion Pegasus.

"So, what _are_ you scheming?" He demanded of his former kidnapper.

"Ah… a direct question. How refreshing. If you would care to have a seat, young Master Kaiba, perhaps I can clarify my position to you, at least." Pegasus replied graciously.

Mokuba nodded, and they sat in adjacent armchairs. Seto still was staring at the computer screen, but his attention was focused on their conversation. After all, he could always use a good laugh.

Mokuba scowled at Pegasus as the elder of the two steepled his fingertips, his face set into a neutral expression.

"I don't have a scheme, plot, or plan. I have no intention of undermining whatever relationships or choices Joseph makes. I've done my share of horrible deeds in my time, and I don't intend to ask for forgiveness. However, I do ask that you and your brother attempt to understand that there are times when one's heart can drive a person to extreme measures." Pegasus watched Mokuba closely.

From behind the laptop came a low growl and the young boy glanced at his brother. Pegasus was speaking a language Mokuba did indeed understand. He had watched his beloved brother be pushed to the edge, until he had chosen to push back. He also knew that most people would never look beyond Seto's cold arrogance, would never give the guarded, half-broken boy a chance, just as easily as they had written Pegasus off as a madman. In spite of all that Seto and Pegasus had in common, however, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for Seto to come to terms with the Duel Monsters creator. Still, purely for Seto's benefit, he huffed at the older man and told him bluntly, "I don't believe you."

Seto smirked at the laptop while Mokuba rolled his eyes and Pegasus gave the younger Kaiba a sly conspiratorial grin. Kaiba may have been a genius, but Mokuba was certainly the wiser of the two. The boy had recognized his sincere effort to make peace for what it was and yet had found a way to accept it without openly defying his older brother. Pegasus found that quality nothing short of commendable.

With nothing left to say, the two sat in a silence broken only by the steady clicking of the keyboard, wondering what they were going to do about Seto.

……….

Tristan waited outside Maria's unit while Jou went in to talk to his sister.

"Why do you guys always have to bicker and argue!" Serenity raged at him. "Can't you think of anything but yourselves? Especially Kaiba; he's such an asshole!"

Joey snickered. It was funny hearing his baby sister swear, but he wasn't as amused when she slapped him across the face.

Tristan watched from the doorway. "Hey, Sweetness, I totally agree with you about Kaiba, but he must have _some_ redeeming qualities." He looked at Joey with doubt in his eyes. "We should get some rest tonight. You and Joey can come back in the morning and talk to the doctor."

"I want to stay here. What if Mom wakes up and no one's around? I don't want to leave her alone," Serenity protested.

"She isn't alone. The nurses are here," Jou tried to convince her. He almost reminded her that Maria probably wouldn't wake up-ever-but caught himself just in time. He knew that somewhere in Serenity's heart, she was just as aware of that fact as he was, but she wasn't ready to accept the finality of the truth yet. He wouldn't be much of a big brother if he didn't try to protect her as best he could, but his attempts only served to make her even angrier.

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it, Joey Wheeler!" Serenity snapped.

"Whatever. Besides, a hot shower and couple of hours of sleep would improve your attitude, Sis. Now, come on. Let's go." Jou loved his sister more than life itself, but at the moment, he had no more patience to offer her, or anyone else for that matter.

Tristan was stunned to see just how well Joey's authoritativeness worked where all their attempts at coddling her had failed. Without another word, she picked up her purse and followed her brother out of the ward.

……….

Jou wasn't surprised to find that Seto and Pegasus were still in the waiting room. The idea 1) that either of them would actually do what _he_ told them to and 2) that either or both of them would willingly leave him to his own devices was preposterous. After all, he might try to escape. It was ridiculously difficult being the center of the universe to two adoring billionaires, but as Jou's gaze flicked from Seto to Pegasus and back again, he was glad that he had never been one to back down from a challenge.

With a big, goofy grin on his face, he put a hand on Pegasus' shoulder. "So, Pops, where we crashing for the night?"

The laptop closed with an audible clunk as the cybernaut returned to reality and glared at the love of his life.

"I believe Croquet has procured suitable accommodations and transportation for us, Joseph." Pegasus answered his son, making a point of ignoring Kaiba.

"Good. Let's go." Without so much as another glance at his significant other, Joey strode out of the waiting room to find Croquet, leaving the other three occupants to follow in his wake.

………

Fifteen minutes later, they were settling into their rooms. Serenity had hers all to herself. Croquet, of course, would not be separated from his master, and since Tristan had no problem with having Mokuba for a roommate, that left the dynamic duo together.

Maybe with those two out of the way, the rest of us can get some rest, Tristan hoped fleetingly before the realization that the room he and Mokuba would be sharing was right next to theirs dawned on him. As loudly as Jou and Seto had been known to fight, the noise would be sure to pierce the relatively thin walls between the two rooms, and Tristan rubbed his temples softly.

"Hey, Mokuba, you didn't happen to bring any sleeping pills with you, did you?" He asked hopefully.

"No." Mokuba gave the older teen a strange look. "Why?"

Tristan sighed, "This is gonna be a long night…"


	30. Chapter 30 No Way Out

Chapter 30: No Way Out

All previous disclaimers still apply; I have no legal rights to Yugioh and do not intend by the writing of this story to infringe on the rights of those who do. I also do not own Phil Collins, Brother Bear, or the song 'No Way Out'. I'm merely borrowing.

Koda of Brother Bear reminds me of Mokuba on chocolate, but that doesn't really have anything to do with this chapter…Think of the lyrics to 'No Way Out' from Seto's POV.

……….

__

Everywhere I turn, I hurt someone

But there's nothing I can say to change the things I've done

Of all the things I hid from you

I cannot hide the shame

And I pray someone, something will come to take away the pain

……….

Jou and Seto hadn't spoken a word to each other since leaving the hospital, and the fierce glares they exchanged probably would have been more effective communication tools had they been telepaths. The one thing they could agree on, though, was that it was definitely a good thing their hotel room had two double beds. Immediately after their arrival, Jou plopped down in a chair and kicked off his shoes while Seto headed for the bathroom, and a nice hot shower. And still, neither said a word.

When he came out, Jou got up to take his turn. As he went to walk past Seto, the other man grabbed his arm roughly. "Do whatever you want, Jou, since what I think obviously matters very little. Do you like Duelist Kingdom? Why don't you move there?"

His piece said, Seto let his puppy go and stalked out of the hotel room without giving the blonde a chance to respond.

For a moment, Joey just stood there, his heart thudding in his chest and screaming at him to run after Seto, to do everything in his power to make things right between them. His mind, however, was telling a different tale; _This won't go away that easily. You might be able to get him to back off for now, but that won't make everything all right in the long run._

Mechanically, Jou forced himself to get ready for bed. That done, he took his bag and went across the hall to his sister's room.

"Hey, Sis, mind if I bunk with you?" he asked when she opened the door. She'd been crying again, or perhaps she still was.

She nodded and pulled him into a bear hug. "I don't want to be alone," she whispered.

"Me neither." He gave her a grim half-smile, and she looked up from his chest to his face.

"What about Kaiba?"

"Kaiba's an asshole. You said so yourself."

They had a good laugh over that before falling asleep to an endless parade of late night infomercials.

……..

Pegasus went with the Wheeler children to the hospital in the morning, missing his shadow greatly. Croquet had apparently determined that Jou was harmless, but that Kaiba definitely needed watching.

They met Maria's main doctor in his office to discuss her case. Serenity sat in near-total silence, wringing her hands in her lap. Fortunately for all concerned, Maria had a Living Will that permitted the hospital to legally take her off life support if there was no possibility she could survive without the machines. Once the doctor had imparted this tidbit of knowledge, Pegasus and Joey asked a few questions and the four of them went to say their farewells.

It was harder for Jou than he had imagined it would be. He'd never been responsible for ending someone's life before, and though it would be a mercy for everyone, Maria included, the entire situation wrenched his heart painfully. Pegasus was right; he loved the woman more than he wanted to believe was possible. His unbridled rage at her for leaving him and Jonathan only served to reinforce just how much she meant to him. He'd never completely recovered from what he saw as the ultimate rejection, but he'd always known that, at some point, he was just going to have to let it go. He just hadn't expected that time to arrive so soon.

Serenity had cried herself out the day before, now dealing with the ordeal in a detached manner that Jou himself could identify with all too readily. Though she'd always been closer to Maria than Jonathan, she grieved for both equally, and Joey could only imagine the depth of her pain. His own grief for Jonathan was still so raw and fresh, but he still had his biological father. Serenity was an orphan.

Within an hour, Maria Wheeler was dead, but the work of the living had only begun. The contents of the Wheeler women's home needed to be sorted and disposed of, funeral arrangements had to be made, and the procedures for Serenity's adoption had to be set in motion. Both teens clung to Pegasus like a life raft in an unfriendly ocean throughout all of this, and the older man was only too happy to serve as their anchor. It seemed _he'd_ been adopted, and in spite of the tragic circumstances, he was happier than he could remember being since he'd lost Cecelia.

When he'd suggested returning to Duelist Kingdom, both Wheelers had stared at him in heartfelt horror. "Uh…You could just hang out with us," Joey had protested. "It's the Information Age, you know. You don't _really_ have to go back to Duelist Kingdom. Unless your lawyer lives there, wouldn't you have to send for someone anyway?"

At this point, Jou was not above begging the man to stay. He hadn't talked to Seto since he'd stormed out of their hotel room the night before and he wasn't sure that what was broken in their relationship was fixable. Even setting Seto aside for the moment, though, there was something to be said for having someone with more experience around to lean on.

"If it means so much to you, Joseph, of course I'll stay." Pegasus told him, pretending that he'd actually needed to be convinced.

………

__

There's no way out of this dark place

No hope, no future

I know I can't be free

But I can't see another way

I can't face another day

Tell me where did I go wrong

Everyone I loved, they're all gone

I'd do everything so differently but I can't turn back the time

There's no shelter from the storm inside of me

……..

Seto had ended up in the hotel bar the night before. Though he was underage, the barmaid hadn't been difficult to bribe. A couple of shots of tequila and some blurry vision later, he had been ready to go back to his puppy, but when he had arrived back at the hotel room he had found it unoccupied. It was just as well, though, because by then the room was spinning and all he had wanted was for it to stop. Perhaps tossing back two…or was it three…shots in less than fifteen minutes hadn't been one of his better ideas. Before he passed out, he had found the floor and willed it to quit moving.

Several hours later, thunderous pounding woke him.

"Go away!" He yelled at the would-be intruder and winced at the sharp pain the sound of his own voice set off in his head.

"Big brother, are you okay?" Mokuba called through the door, and Seto groaned.

"It's too early, Kuba. Go back to bed," the brunet admonished his brother in a softer tone as he rolled to his side, working his way toward a sitting position. With every movement, no matter how minute, waves of nausea washed over him.

"Seto, it's eleven o'clock. Jou, Pegasus, and Serenity went to the hospital hours ago." Mokuba informed him, clearly surprised that his genius brother wasn't even aware of the time.

__

Jou. Had Jou even come back to their room? Seto wondered, using the nearest bed to pull himself to his feet. As he straightened his back, though, he realized that he might be _too _tall and bent down over the bed with a barely stifled groan.

"I…I just need a few minutes. Go back to your room, and I'll meet you there," Seto finally responded. _That, another shower, and a pot of coffee, _he added to himself.

"If you don't show up in ten minutes, I'll be back," Mokuba warned, sighing to himself as he walked away. Things were so definitely not okay.

__

……..

Eight minutes later, the determined pounding on the hotel room door renewed itself.

"What do you want!" Seto snarled, stalking over to the door in nothing but his boxers and throwing it open, only to come face to face with Jou.

"Uh…I forgot my key. I talked to Mokuba. He's worried about you." Jou picked his keycard up from the table. He fidgeted with it for a moment before sliding it into the back pocket of his jeans. His throat was suddenly dry, and Joey swallowed heavily before continuing. "I just thought you should know that Maria died. Pegasus is going to stay in the States with us and help us take care of what needs to be done, so I guess that means you and Mokuba can go back to Domino if you want. Father will send someone to clean out my apartment." Joey explained quietly.

"Father?" Seto choked out. "So that's it. You're leaving me."

Before either man knew what was going on, Jou roundhouse punched Seto in the face. Seemingly on auto-pilot, he stepped into the room and shut the door while Seto lay sprawled out on the floor, trying not to black out from the horrible pain reverberating throughout his head.

"When you were sober, you told me to leave. Now that you're hung over, you want me to stay?" Jou sat down on the side of the bed, buried his face in his hands, and finally broke down. "Excuse me, but the only mother I ever knew just died, and I can't handle your bullshit right now!"

Seto crawled over to his sobbing lover and rested his head on Jou's knee, stroking the blond's leg slowly, allowing the repetitive gesture to bring him back to reality. "I'm such an asshole."

Jou snickered and sniffled. "Yeah, that's the general consensus around here." He reached for the box of tissues on the nightstand between the two beds, wiping away his tears roughly.

"I will never be able to accept Pegasus, Jou." Seto told him frankly, some of his former strength and stubbornness having returned with his lover.

"I know," Joey admitted softly, "but Seto, he seems so different now. Maybe it was the Millennium Eye that made him do those terrible things."

"Yeah. Right, Jou," Seto scoffed, ever the skeptic.

A heavy silence followed, Joey stroking his boyfriend's hair absently and Seto content to simply bask in his touch. "Where does that leave us?" Joey finally asked, shattering the pretty illusion.

"I'm not willing to share you with him." Seto told him flatly, and Jou nodded. He had expected nothing more or less.

"You really need to quit seeing everyone as a rival, Seto. I'm not asking you to accept him as _your _father, but I was hoping you could learn to tolerate him for my sake."

"What do you think I've _been _doing, Jou?" Seto demanded. "_This _is why I wanted to know what you were going to do about Pegasus; I didn't want to get involved with you if he was going to be a part of your life. I wanted to believe it would be all right, but it obviously isn't. How can you build a case of temporary insanity for him just because he had a gold eyeball stuck into an empty socket? After everything he's done, Jou… he plays with people's souls just to amuse himself, and you're prepared to choose him over me!"

"You won't even give him a chance, Seto!" Joey's pain was quickly being filtered into rage. "Is this an ultimatum? You or him? I'm sick and tired of having to defend everyone in my life to you!" His blind fury bolstering his strength, Joey shoved Seto back onto one of the beds

Seto's anger overcame his hangover then, and he sprang at the blonde, forcing him down onto the other bed. His eyes blazed with blue-white fury as his long fingers wrapped around Jou's throat. He wanted to squeeze the life out of the pedigreed mutt, wanted to look into those honey brown eyes and watch him struggle as his life was snuffed out. In that moment, Seto hated Joey with every fiber of his being, hated the blonde for making him weak, for making him feel, for being the son of his worst enemy. If his alcohol-fogged brain had been functioning properly, he would have realized his rage at Jou was badly misplaced, but in his current state of awareness it was all perfectly logical and justified in his eyes.

Jou clawed at the powerful hands at first, fighting the onrushing waves of dizziness, but eventually quit resisting. He wasn't about to be forced into choosing between his father and his lover; he would rather be dead than face losing another person that he loved.

Surprise shattered the haze of anger permeating Seto's thoughts when Jou went limp, and the brunette's knees buckled under him as his hands relaxed spasmodically. His azure eyes now soft with regret, he watched his puppy sit up, gingerly touching his throat.

"I don't want to lose you, Pup." he said in a low tone of voice.

"You just tried to kill me!" Jou tried to shout, but what came out instead was a hoarse whisper, made vicious by his ire. "You think Pegasus is insane? You ought to look in the mirror sometime." The look of pain that crossed Seto's face as he spoke these words didn't escape him, but Jou was beyond caring about his would-be murderer's feelings. "You're trying to force me to give up the only blood relation I have left, and you don't even realize that it's not just about _me_ anymore. I have to think about what's best for Serenity too, just like you do with Mokuba, but you're too possessive and pigheaded to see that!"

"You don't know what you're doing, Jou." Seto growled back, but Joey refused to hear him.

"Get your brother and go home," the blonde murmured as he swept past his lover on the way to the door.

Seto stayed where he was once Jou was gone, not even daring to breathe for the knowledge that when the numbing shock wore off, his emotions would kick in. He could not allow himself to be governed by his heart as he had for the last week. Fervently, he tried to convince himself that all he felt for Jou was wanton, carnal lust, that he couldn't allow himself to let down barriers it had taken a lifetime to create for something so unimportant and inconsequential.

Uncharacteristically, Seto Kaiba failed miserably.

He started to go to retrieve his puppy, but his stomach chose this oh-so-convenient moment to protest against its acidic contents. He only just made it to the bathroom in time, but his heart sang a moment later when he heard someone enter the room. _Jou has the only other key card. It has to be him._ With a huge effort, the dragon master pulled himself to his feet, clinging to the bathroom sink for support. Hoping against hope that his beautiful golden lover wanted to work their difficulties out.

"Big brother? You look terrible…"

"Kuba…" Seto's heart sank as his little brother entered the bathroom, and his knees buckled, nearly sending him back to the tiled floor. His eyes found their reflections in the mirror above his support, and as disgusted as Seto was with his current appearance, which was more appropriate on a drunken slob than the CEO of Kaiba Corp, he had an awful feeling that, if Joey left for good, he'd be seeing a lot worse.

"Are we going back to Domino?" Mokuba asked softly, dragging him out of the darkness of his own contemplations for a moment. The younger Kaiba had been in his and Tristan's room when the others had returned from the hospital, and he had heard close to everything that had gone on in the next room.

Once it was over, Joey had gone to see him with very obvious red finger marks on his neck, already darkening to an even more obvious purple. Silently, he had handed Mokuba the key card to Seto's room, pausing on his way out to suggest that the younger boy find out what his brother's plans were. That had left him feeling confused and uncertain, to say the least. Now, he stood in his brother's room waiting for Seto's answer, and those feelings paled in comparison to what was lancing through him right then.

"No." Seto told Mokuba's reflection, sighing disconsolately. "Would you go get Jou, please?"

"Sure." Mokuba sprinted off to carry out his mission, eager for the chance to help and hoping that things weren't as bleak as they seemed.

………

Tristan knocked on Serenity's door. He had come to the conclusion that Joey and Mokuba had more guts than brains, especially when it came to dealing with Seto Kaiba. He hated that it probably wouldn't be long before he'd be patching the torn pieces of his friend's heart back together again. Why couldn't Jou find a _nice_ guy to settle down with? Someone like, say, Ryou Bakura?

"Hi." Serenity answered the door emotionlessly.

"Feel like some company, Sweetness?" He asked with a hint of a smile that he hoped would come across as comforting.

She waved him in, as though his presence made no difference to her.

"Joey went to talk to Kaiba. I can't understand why he tries to be friends with that jerk," she confided to Tristan. "He's cold and mean and acts like he owns the world. Besides, all they do is bicker and argue."

These few words apparently sapped most of her remaining strength, and she sank down on the hotel bed, crying softly. As Tristan put his arms around her, rocking her gently, he came to the awful realization that Jou was keeping certain important details of his life from his little sister. She had no way of knowing that her brother's relationship with Kaiba went far beyond than the commonly accepted definition of friendship, and to Tristan that seemed incredibly wrong.

Serenity drew back enough to look up into his face, and her tone made her resentment of Kaiba crystalline. "I know Joey works for Kaiba; that was part of the custody agreement, but do they really have to hang out together too?"

Tristan sincerely hoped that the question was rhetorical. It was Joey's place to explain his love life to his sister, not his. Even so, though, Tristan wouldn't lie about anything to his girlfriend, who had been through so much already, were he questioned directly.

Serenity sensed the growing tension in her boyfriend's limbs, and her brow furrowed in confusion. "Tristan, what's wrong? What aren't you telling me?"

"Sweetness…you really need to ask Joey why he spends so much time with Kaiba. I'm not too fond of him myself." That was the best he would do for his friend, and Tristan prayed it would be enough.

To his relief, she sighed and relaxed in his embrace, and they lapsed into a comfortable silence. Despite the outward calm, though, Serenity's mind was traveling to painful places she didn't want to explore. She didn't want to think about facing the house that she had shared with Maria for so much of her life when, a little over a day ago, she had had no idea she would be thinking of her life with her mother in the past tense. She wracked her brain for a subject to talk about that had no bearing on her current state of affairs and brightened as she hit on a topic.

"Do you think Joey will ever work up the courage to ask Mai out? They would make such a cute couple. Tea told me that Mai's had a crush on my big brother ever since they met at Duelist Kingdom."

Tristan was stunned at the sudden switch, to say the very least, and his mind raced as he tried to figure out some way of keeping his best buddy's secret without lying to Serenity. His first instinct was to run for the hall and scream Joey's name at the top of his lungs until the blonde showed up, then shove him into his sister's room until he squared things away with her. He would have done it too, if not for the knowledge that Joey was trying to square things away with Seto at the moment. Any way he looked at it, the timing was just really bad.

"Tristan? What is it? Did I say something wrong?" Serenity asked with a puzzled frown.

"Of course not, Sweetness. It's just that you should take this up with your brother."

"I need to ask him about Mai _and _Kaiba? Are Mai and Kaiba dating?" Something didn't add up to the petite auburn-haired girl, and she wasn't about to let it drop until she found out just what it was.

Tristan groaned. He'd been cornered, and there was nothing he hated more. "Sweetness, Mai doesn't even figure into the picture. Joey likes her, but to him she's just a good friend. He's not romantically attracted to her."

Serenity nodded, accepting this explanation until an image of the stunningly beautiful Amazon blonde drifted into her mind. How could her brother not be attracted to Mai? Any red-blooded male on the planet would agree that she was hot.

"But she's so pretty and she likes him and…"

The disappointment in Serenity's voice broke Tristan's resolve. _Why me?_ he thought despairingly, trying to make himself believe that maybe it would be easier for both her and Jou if he was the one to break the news to his girlfriend. He remembered how he and Jou had treated her like a porcelain doll at the hospital without making any headway, and that it was only once Joey had laid everything on the line for her that she had accepted it.

Besides, she was a New York City girl, for crying out loud. She should be able to take it straight.

"Joey is gay and Kaiba is his boyfriend." Tristan stated simply, bracing himself for the coming storm.

The blood drained from her face and her eyes went huge with horror. Too late, Tristan realized he'd made a terrible mistake. Even under the best of circumstances, she might not have accepted Joey's homosexuality as easily as she had the news that he had been adopted, and these were anything but the best of circumstances.

"No…he…you're wrong…you're lying!" she cried, pushing him away. He tried to get a hold of her again, to get her to calm down, but she slapped and clawed at him, struggling to break free. "Is this your idea of a joke, Tristan Taylor! I hate you! I hate all of you! I don't ever want to see any of you again!"

One more hard push and Tristan ended up on the floor while Serenity sprinted for the door. She was gone before Tristan even got to his knees. Futilely, he pounded his fists into the plush carpeting. He had to go after her; in her present state of mind, who knew what she might do or where she might go…but first, he had to confess his sins to his best buddy, and hopefully get some reinforcements in the process.

………

Croquet answered the door of Pegasus' suite to a tearstained and bruised blonde. The older man seemed strangely underdressed to Jou without his sunglasses; the teenager wasn't used to the piercing grey stare, captivating though it was. That same gaze turned dangerous quickly enough, though, when Croquet got a look at the finger imprints on Jou's neck. Visibly tense, he stepped back so his master's son could enter the chamber.

It dawned on Jou quite suddenly that Croquet's protectiveness of Pegasus would naturally extend to the members of his family, but that knowledge was chilling rather than comforting. He covered his throat with his hands unconsciously, attempting to conceal the tell-tale marks of his near strangulation out of fear for Seto. Pegasus, gentle and refined as he was, could be a ruthless and dangerous man when provoked.

Joey sank down into the chair across from his father, who was reading the newspaper. Pegasus barely glanced at Jou as he cocked his eyebrow nonchalantly, "That went well, I see."

The silver-haired man folded the paper and casually laid it aside as Croquet removed the wine bottle from the ice bucket, gathered up the plastic liner, drained off the water, and deftly wrapped the makeshift ice pack in a linen napkin. Wordlessly, he offered it to Jou, who was watching the entire display with fascination. He had never really given Croquet a second thought until right then.

"It will help with the discoloration and swelling." Croquet explained when Joey continued to stare at him as though he had never seen him before.

In a way, Joey hadn't. He suddenly realized that Croquet wasn't Pegasus' bodyguard, head of security, or manservant. Croquet was his father's guardian angel, his friend and his family, and this sudden knowledge made Jou smile impishly.

"Thanks, Uncle Chris," he grinned.

The look of shock and bewilderment that transformed the stern man's face for a moment was almost frightening. It seemed that Croquet wasn't a tin soldier in a charcoal suit after all. Finally, the older man gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Sir, wasn't it enough for you to torture me? Did you find it necessary that I should suffer your son's antics also?" Eager to get away from the two kindred, playful spirits, he shook his head and went to find some task that needed doing.

"Well done, Joseph." Pegasus congratulated the blonde with a chuckle.

Jou's sense of humour had left with Croquet, though. The infinite void in his chest where his heart had been made him wish Seto had just finished him off. How was he supposed to continue living when he felt like this, when every breath seared through his chest with the pain of a thousand flaming brands?

Pegasus frowned as he watched his son's composure crumble. "Hmm…Joseph, I am less than impressed with Kaiba-boy's recent actions."

"You think I should just give up on him?" Jou demanded defensively. He wondered if Seto had been right, that Pegasus would take every opportunity he could find to drive a wedge between them.

"Yes. For the time being, at least. Seto has tasted defeat before, and it is not his favorite flavour by any means. Give him a chance to comprehend what he has lost, and perhaps he will gain a greater appreciation of you." Pegasus advised gently.

"Uh…like how long?" Jou asked, his fingernails digging into the armrests of his chair as he glanced around the room for a clock.

……….

Tristan and Mokuba found themselves at Pegasus' suite at the same time, both of them needing an audience with Joey immediately.

Tristan rapped on the door three times, but before he could go for four, the door was flung open wide by a hopeful looking blonde with a battered neck. Jou's face fell in disappointment when neither of the boys in the hall turned out to be the one he wanted to see.

"Jou, I don't know how to tell you this…" Tristan began.

"Joey, Seto asked me to come get you. He wants to talk to you." Mokuba cut the tall brunette off.

"Hold on, Squirt. _I _need to talk to Joey!" Tristan shot back.

Joey looked from one to the other. This was a definite case of supply not meeting demand, and his heart nearly overrode whatever common sense he had left. All he heard was 'Seto' and the desire to bolt off in whatever direction Mokuba wanted to take him seized his entire being.

"Tris, can it wait? I really need to talk to Seto too…" Joey pleaded with his best friend.

Tristan's eyes turned obsidian with anger. "Fine, then. I'll keep it short and simple for you, Jou. Serenity split. Now run off and go play with your boyfriend!"

"What do you mean Serenity split!" Joey yelled.

"Yeah, I thought that might get your attention." Tristan's shoulders slumped, his rage already fizzling out. "Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

Joey nodded, and they headed to Tristan's room, leaving Mokuba to wonder just how badly Seto was going to react to this new development. When he got back to Seto's room, though, he found his brother passed out and snoring on one of the beds. Having narrowly averted a close encounter with the dragon master, Mokuba contented himself with the remote control and the TV.

……….

"You what!" Joey screamed at Tristan so loudly that, in the next room. Mokuba jumped.

"Joey, the important thing now is that we find her. You can kill me later," Tristan promised.

"I don't even have any idea where to start looking for her! This is New York City, not Domino! How could you just let her leave like that?"

"I didn't 'just let her leave'. Do you really think I'd let her out of my sight for a second if I could help it?"

Joey's scowl deepened as he thought about it.

"No. We've got to find her. Now." Before this pronouncement had even registered in Tristan's guilt-fogged brain, Jou charged back to his father's suite.

Upon hearing of the latest complication, Croquet smoothly removed his sunglasses from the breast pocket of his suit. Thus armed and prepared for action, he awaited his master's command. Though he'd been pretty idle for the past two days, this was a situation that his abilities were well tailored to.

Pegasus simply nodded, giving his head of security full consent to take whatever steps were necessary to find the confused young girl. That done, he turned to Jou with a thin, rueful smile. "Your Uncle Chris will help you find Serenity, Joseph."

"U-Uncle C-Chris!" Tristan stammered.

Jou ignored him in favor of Croquet. "What do we do?"

"Call her house. It's unlikely she will have had time to arrive home yet, but it is probable that she will go there first. Does she have anyone she would go to-a friend, neighbor, or a relative?"

Jou shook his head. "I don't know."

"We will go to the house ourselves then, Joseph, as we originally planned. If she isn't there, a quick investigation should turn up some indication of where she would go." Croquet took great pride in having been able to give Jou a basic rundown of detective technique that his master's son seemed to understand. Perhaps the boy was only hopeless when it came to close personal relationships.

"Okay." Jou nodded. "Let's do it."

He fumbled with the cell phone Croquet handed him until he managed to get Serenity's phone number punched in, and six rings later, the answering machine picked up. "Serenity…Sis…if you get this, please stay put until I can get there. I'm sorry. I'll see ya soon." He disconnected, feeling like he'd been destroyed from the inside out.

…………

Mokuba watched The Weather Channel for two minutes, the Home Shopping Network for three, the History Channel for four and a half, and stayed almost interested in a documentary on cloning on the Discovery Channel for seven minutes. Tired of channel surfing and his brother's snoring, which sounded like an inordinately loud freight train, he decided that Tristan and Pegasus had monopolized Joey long enough. He returned to the silver-haired man's suite, surprised when Pegasus himself opened the door.

"Hey, where is everybody?" Mokuba asked, peering past Pegasus into the empty suite.

"Mokuba, how charming. I was becoming bored." Pegasus invited the younger Kaiba in with a wave of his hand. "Croquet spent the morning arranging for a few of my favorite foods and beverages to be delivered. Would you care to join me? I do so tire of dining alone."

"Where's Joey?" Mokuba demanded.

"Tristan…hmmm…informed Serenity of Seto and Joseph's…uh…merger. It seems she did not approve and left rather abruptly. I chose to stay behind in case the young lady returned while the others are attempting to locate her." Pegasus explained.

Mokuba was crestfallen. Seto had been apprehensive about Pegasus' interference in his relationship with Joey, but it was Serenity that he should have worried about. Mokuba didn't doubt for an instant that if she wanted Joey to leave Seto, he would, especially now that Maria was gone.

Pegasus patted Mokuba on the shoulder, and he looked up into the single amber-brown eye with tears in his own. Pegasus understood the boy's fears all too well, and as such attempted to console him.

"She's frightened and bewildered, Mokuba. Her mother and her brother have been her anchors in this world and suddenly, she feels as though she has been cut off from both of them. She believes she is alone, lost on a stormy sea." Pegasus felt slightly lightheaded, and his eye closed as his mind reached out for Serenity's. He could sense her, yet he was unable to locate her physical position. Mokuba stared at him in bewilderment as he came back to himself. "Joseph will find her and I am certain she will discover that he is still there to be her anchor. She'll accept it, Mokuba. Serenity loves Joseph as much as you love your own big brother. Speaking of whom, what is dear Kaiba-boy up to?"

Mokuba felt reassured, and a smile spread across his face. If Serenity loved Joey _half _as much as he loved Seto, she would want her big brother to be happy, regardless of what that meant. "Seto's sleeping. I think he got drunk last night."

"I see," Pegasus replied, unable to suppress a grin of his own at the thought of the iron-willed Seto Kaiba doing something as frivolous as getting drunk. "Well then, if you have no pressing engagements to attend to, would you do me the honor of keeping me company, young Master Kaiba?" Pegasus was all charm and formality, and Mokuba couldn't help but grin. Aristocratic and old-fashioned, Pegasus belonged in a different century, but he seemed determined to make do with the one he found himself in.

"Sure. I'm starving!" he accepted enthusiastically.

Five minutes later, Pegasus had laid out a banquet before the young boy. Caviar, sushi, exotic cheeses, tropical fruits, croissants, chocolate truffles, and even a fourth of a goblet of sweet white wine rested on the table before Mokuba's bulging eyes, and Pegasus winked conspiratorially. "I won't tell Seto if you won't."

Mokuba giggled, shyly sipping the wine. He found that he liked it and thought how angry Seto would be if he knew Pegasus was corrupting him.

"Pegasus, would you teach me some dueling techniques?" Mokuba asked suddenly. "I know the basics, but Seto's never taken the time to really teach me."

Pegasus' half-raised wine glass froze in mid-air as he contemplated Mokuba's request.

"I really need some help with building a strong deck. How do you know what cards to use? There's so many of them," Mokuba continued. He couldn't understand why Pegasus was so shocked by the request. After all, Pegasus had invented the game and taught it to Seto, who had earned the title of World Champion.

"Do…do you have a deck of your own, Mokuba?" Pegasus managed to get out once his heart started beating again. Though he was honoured that Mokuba thought enough of him to want to learn from him, he knew that if Kaiba ever found out about it he would believe that Pegasus was scheming to use Mokuba as leverage in some twisted plot. True, he had set a precedent for Kaiba's fear, but that was so last year.

He couldn't say that he feared Kaiba would take his life. No, Pegasus was far more concerned about the clever little gears spinning between Kaiba's ears. There were certainly worse things than death; living, for instance, when all that you loved was forever beyond your reach, no matter how long your grasp might be.

"No. I've got a few cards at home, but they're not really a deck." Mokuba replied.

"Hmm…" Pegasus got the hotel edition of the Yellow Pages out and let his fingers do the walking. He contacted the best gaming shop in the city and sweet talked the manager into delivering the store's entire stock of Duel Monster cards to his suite. Once he convinced the manager he was _the_ Maximillion Pegasus, he had her wrapped around his little finger. _As if the world needed more than one Maximillion Pegasus_, he chuckled to himself.

An hour later, he and Mokuba sat in the middle of the floor with several dozen empty foil wrappers and innumerable cards strewn about in a deep discussion on the strategies of building the perfect deck when they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door that could belong to no other but Seto Kaiba. To Pegasus, this was something akin to being caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

"I'll get it." Mokuba offered, getting to his feet.

……….

Jou, Tristan, and Croquet took a taxi to the Wheeler women's house, but the unbelievably long drive was making Joey jumpy and fidgety. He wasn't worried that Serenity would hurt herself, but he was afraid that, in her unstable and vulnerable condition, someone might hurt her. He kept his fingers crossed and prayed that she had just gone straight home.

Tristan tried to ignore Joey's squirming while berating himself for letting Serenity slip away, and a frigid silence between he and his best friend was the result. Tristan would have liked to have gone into more detail about what had led up to Serenity's flight, but he wasn't comfortable saying anything more than he had already in front of Croquet.

Joey was also getting on Croquet's nerves. He had no animosity toward children, but the blonde was wiggling as much as a five year old that needed to use the bathroom. Croquet had elevated maintaining motionlessness to an art form, and he used their non-constructive downtime to mentally assess the options for finding Serenity had she not returned to her residence. He figured that was probably safer than whapping his boss's son upside the head in the overcrowded backseat of the taxi. After all, who knew what horrible, inhuman punishment Max would come up for him next?

Finally, they reached their destination. Serenity's home was a small, two-story, middle class house, painted a vibrant shade of yellow. Croquet asked the taxi driver to wait while Joey approached the house, but as Jou tentatively reached out to ring the bell, a large black woman came to the door.

"May I help you, young man?" she asked, clearly annoyed by the intrusion.

"Uh…we were looking for Serenity Wheeler's house." Joey explained, certain that they were at the wrong place.

"This is it. I'm the landlady, Sadie Stone. And you are?" she prompted.

"I'm Joey Wheeler, Serenity's brother," he introduced himself.

"I didn't know Maria had a son," she said testily, shifting so that her more than ample frame blocked the doorway totally.

Joey sighed. Somehow he wasn't surprised that Maria had never talked about him. "Is Serenity here?"

"Yes. I'll see if she wants to talk to you." Sadie Stone retreated after locking the front door.

In spite of the cold shoulder Joey had gotten from her, he felt deeply relieved. He turned back to where Tristan and Croquet were waiting by the taxi and gave them a grim thumbs up. He wasn't out of the woods yet, but at least they had found his sister.

A few minutes later, the landlady returned and dramatically put her hands on her hips. "She'll talk to you, Joey Wheeler, but I don't know what kind of young man would allow his sweet, innocent baby sister to wander the streets on the very day her mother passed on."

Her need to express a motherly reprimand satisfied, she looked to Joey's companions and waved them over. Sadie let Jou and Tristan in on the front porch but stared at Croquet as though he had escaped from the set of Men in Black III and could at any moment turn into a two-headed, green-spotted extraterrestrial.

"Who are you?" she asked bluntly.

Croquet was at a loss to explain himself. Used to being Pegasus' shadow, he was comfortable with anonymity and, for the most part, passing through life without being noticed. He had no reason to lie, but it would also be difficult to explain the complexities of the truth, so, as was his habit, he said nothing.

Jou stepped in for him without hesitation, "This is my friend Tristan and my Uncle Chris." He shrugged at Croquet whose eyebrows were crawling into his hairline.

"Is that so?" The landlady gave Croquet one final glare before turning back to Jou. "Your sister is upstairs, in the room on the left." Leaving Joey to his own devices, she gestured to the other two men, finally relenting. "I'll get you two some refreshments. Come on."

Jou bounded up the stairs two at a time. The door on the left was open, and he strode in cautiously. His sister's bedroom was nice; a built-in bookcase framed a window seat that was occupied by stuffed animals and dolls. Instead of books, the bookcase held books on tape, a painful reminder to Jou that, as the light and color had faded from Serenity's world, she must have turned to sound for comfort. He was saddened that he had not been around to face the darkness with her. _She must have felt so alone._

At first, he didn't see her in the small bedroom, but then he realized that she was on the floor with her back to the bed on the far side of the room. For lack of a better idea, he went and sank down beside her.

"Why didn't you tell me, Joey? Not about you and Kaiba, but…but that you like guys _that_ way? You could have told me anytime. Anytime would have been better than today!" Her face was angry, red, and streaked with tears. She had yet to look at him. "Mom should never have left you with Dad. He didn't raise you right! Don't you know same sex relationships are wrong!"

Serenity wasn't the only one who was angry now. Joey stood and pulled her up none too gently by the shoulders, pressing her back into the wall. His own tears blazed hot trails down his cheeks. Maybe she would always despise him for what he was, but he wasn't going to tolerate her putting down her father. It was too easy for her to lay blame on the dead for the faults of the living.

"Look at me, Serenity! Look at me!" he demanded harshly. "Dad was a good man, a good father! He did his best. Maybe that wasn't good enough for you and Mom, but it was good enough for me! So what? I'm gay. I always have been and there isn't anything I can do to change that. It's just the way it is. I'm still the same person I was a few hours ago when you were afraid I'd go back to Domino without you! You can accept it or hate me for it, but don't you ever blame our dad! I never intended it to be a secret! The subject just never came up!"

Serenity was definitely looking at him now, or more specifically at his neck.

"Did Kaiba do that?" she asked, pointing a shaky finger at Joey's neck.

All of Jou's energy left him then. He was so tired. Life was an uphill battle, and his hill seemed to be steeper than most.

"He didn't know what he was doing." Joey defended his lover softly.

"So not only are you gay, you're also in an abusive relationship with a rich grade A jerk!" she sniffed.

"Please don't, Sis." Jou sank down on her bed. "Look, I had to make a choice between trying to save my relationship with him and coming after you. As you can see, I chose you, even though I love you both. Seto isn't an easy guy to figure out. He hates Pegasus, and he has every right to. He's being torn apart inside as much as any of us are. I love him, Sis, but you still come first."

He sobbed when he was done, telling himself that it was better this way. Seto couldn't meet Pegasus on neutral ground, and they could probably never get their flawed relationship to work anyway. Everything in him screamed against this theory, however, and for the briefest moment he wanted to run back to Seto's arms, regardless of the cost.

Serenity sat beside him and wrapped her arms around her brother's muscular body, simply holding him.

"I'm sorry, big brother. We've got to stick together. I guess…I guess I'll just have to adjust. Can you forgive me?" she whispered meekly.

He smiled weakly at her. "I'd forgive you anything, Serenity. Just don't scare me like that again."

"I promise, Joey." she paused and looked at her watch. "Sadie was going to take me to the funeral home and help me make arrangements for Mom's funeral. I sort of lost it, didn't I?"

"Yeah. Sadie is about as protective as a mother grizzly bear," Joey smiled grimly.

Serenity giggled. "Actually, she reminds me a little of you in that respect." As her giggles subsided, her face dropped back into a serious expression. "Will you go to the funeral home with me? Then we can go back to the hotel, and you and Kaiba can work things out."

"No. It's too late for that. I'm sure he's on his way back to Domino." Resignedly, Jou shook his head, hoping to shake off his despair as well. "For now, at least, we've got things to do. Let's get to them."

………

A/N: I'm aware that this leaves off in a really bad place. Sorry about that. This is only half of the songfic and half of the actual chapter. I had to split it in two because it's just too long. Chapter 31 is the rest of Chapter 30. I hope to post them fairly close together.


	31. Chapter 31 The Path From This Dark Place

****

Chapter 31: The Path From This Dark Place

This is the second part of what is actually Chapter 30 and the rest of the songfic 'No Way Out' from Brother Bear by Phil Collins.

………

Pegasus unhurriedly tidied up a bit under Seto's glower, leaving the cards where they were but disposing of the empty wrappers in an appropriate receptacle.

"Where is Jou?" a deep grumble demanded. Seto was positively cold and sleek in a navy shirt and slacks, and Pegasus couldn't discern any leftover symptoms of his hangover. The boy's constitution was truly admirable, the silver-haired man decided.

Once the CEO had spied the messy mass of gaming cards on the floor, it had taken him less than a split second to comprehend just what his brother and his worst enemy had been doing. Unsurprisingly, his eyes had yet to return to their normal width.

"Uh…I asked Pegasus to show me some of his strategies, Seto, just to pass the time. You know, Serenity left and the others went to look for her, and I was bored, and you were sleeping…" Mokuba rambled, trying to cool his brother's temper and failing miserably. Thankfully, he was cut off by the ringing telephone, which Pegasus stepped into the bedroom to answer.

"So you decided to hang out with _Pegasus_, Mokuba? Has the world gone mad? And you're having _him_ teach you Duel Monsters? All you had to do was ask!" Seto snarled.

"I did ask. You never took the time. _He _invented the game, Seto, _and_ he taught it to _you. _Who better to learn from?" Mokuba retorted. He refused to be put on a guilt trip by his brother when he had done nothing wrong.

Before Seto could speak again, Pegasus re-entered the main room. "That was Christopher. Serenity's with them, safe and sound. They'll return as soon as they complete the funeral arrangements for her mother." As he relayed this information, he couldn't help thinking what a pity it was that Kaiba had woken from his nap so soon. He and Mokuba had been getting along quite nicely until they had been so rudely interrupted.

"Croquet's with Jou?" Seto asked, irritated.

"Yes, Kaiba-boy."

"And it didn't occur to you that I might want to talk to him?"

"Actually, Kaiba-boy, it did. However, he will be back shortly, and you need a chance to clear your head before then." Pegasus replied smoothly.

"Don't tell me what I need!" Seto growled back.

"You need Joseph, obviously." The older man stated simply, stunning Seto into silence. "He may actually be able to help you change from a wooden puppet into a real human being." He smiled just a little, remembering his own version of the Blue Fairy and the magical transformation she had performed on him. "So like his mother…"

"Excuse me?" Seto scowled.

"Oh, nothing, Kaiba-boy."

"Would you quit calling me that!" the brunet snapped.

"As you wish, Master Kaiba." Pegasus gave him a subservient yet sarcastic bow. "In any case, it would seem you need something to occupy your time until Joseph's return. Instead of brooding about everything, as you usually do, why not seize this golden opportunity to teach your little brother the intricacies of Duel Monsters?" As graceful as always, he sat down on the couch and gestured to the scattered cards on the floor. "Of course, you're welcome to these." Ignoring Seto's death glare, Pegasus winked at Mokuba. "Consider them a gift, young Master Kaiba. Just make sure that your brother doesn't 'borrow' any of the more powerful ones for his own deck."

The blue-eyed CEO felt totally out of his depth as he sat on the floor, practically on top of Mokuba. Pegasus chuckled to himself. It was difficult to tell whether Seto thought he was protecting his brother or if he wanted Mokuba to protect _him_.

Mokuba, too, felt that he had wandered into a place of enchantments, spells, and other impossibilities as the three of them sat in the same room, sharing a common interest in a manner that could _almost_ be considered civil.

……….

By late in the afternoon, Seto's near civility had worn out; his obstinacy, on the other hand, would never be in short supply while Pegasus was around. He would sit there in the madman's suite until his puppy returned, even if it killed him. Even though he remained in the man's hotel room, though, he refused to be swayed by Pegasus' hospitality, especially since his baby brother seemed to have fallen under the silver-haired illusionist's spell just the same as the rest of the Domino residents. Someone had to remain sane when it came to dealing with the lunatic, after all.

About an hour and a half after Croquet's phone call, Pegasus ordered room service. He was aware that the rest of their crew would arrive at any moment, and when he heard footsteps in the hall, he opened the door of the suite without hesitation, not taking into account how it was that he _knew_ they had come back.

This peculiar chain of events was not lost on Mokuba, who was still at odds with himself on the subject of Pegasus. He was caught between trusting Joey's intuition and believing in Seto's logic. The truth appeared to lie somewhere between the two, though the younger Kaiba was at a loss to pinpoint the precise balance required to decipher it.

"Ah, you've returned." Pegasus greeted them warmly. "Come in: supper will be arriving shortly."

Croquet found nothing unusual about Pegasus holding the door open for them even as they approached it. He'd always been more aware of Pegasus' precognizant gifts than the man was himself; his master had never quite figured out how Croquet managed to suddenly appear whenever he wanted him. Since childhood, though, Croquet had felt pulled to his master like steel to a magnet whenever Max had needed him, be it in the wake of a particularly bad nightmare or just because he was feeling lonely. To this day, Pegasus didn't understand that _he_ called Croquet to him, simply using the power of his mind, and while Croquet despised magic as a rule, this wasn't magic as he understood it. It was more a natural outgrowth of Pegasus' overdeveloped brain.

Croquet waited as the others entered the suite, tensing slightly when he saw the elder Kaiba. Pegasus smirked and leaned in to whisper to the other man. "No worries, Christopher: young Mokuba has kept his brother in line."

Croquet nodded as the food Pegasus had ordered arrived. None of them was particularly hungry, however, and even a chain saw would have had some difficulty slicing through the tension in the room. Needless to say, the dinner conversation quickly degenerated to a level where it was composed mostly of "please pass the butter" and "thank you".

Pegasus made a brief attempt at levity that went over like a lead balloon, deciding right then that the sooner _this_ dinner party was over, the better. Without the Millennium Eye, he had no shield against the extreme angst in the room, and a familiar migraine began to pulse through his forehead and temples before too long.

"Sir?" Croquet broke the silence as he rose and served Pegasus another glass of wine, hovering over him like a mother hen.

"I'm fine, Croquet," Pegasus told him testily. "It's just a slight headache."

This appalled his servant, since Pegasus hadn't complained of a headache since he'd had the Eye. Chris wanted to dismiss Pegasus' guests right then and there, possibly even have hotel personnel clear the floor. He would do whatever it took to give his master however much space he needed.

Joey realized the stoic bodyguard was nearly frantic with worry over Pegasus, and that same emotion began to take root in his own heart. "Father? What is it? What's wrong?"

Upon hearing the word 'Father', Seto stood quickly, threw his napkin down onto his plate, and stormed out of the suite without a word.

Pegasus smiled warmly. Not only was he ecstatic to hear Joseph call him Father, but his headache had receded dramatically with Kaiba's exit. "I'm fine, Joseph, really, but perhaps you should be attending to Kaiba-boy."

"Yeah." Joey agreed, but nevertheless stayed where he was. He had fully expected Seto to be gone when he got back to the hotel, and now he felt uncertain about getting into another possible confrontation with his dragon master. He was also suddenly very aware that everyone was watching him.

Finally, Mokuba huffed, "What are you still doing here?"

Jou got up slowly and left. He felt like he was being punished for crimes he wasn't aware of committing; that was the only explanation for the events of the past two days. Reluctantly, he knocked on Seto's door, at the same time wanting to avoid Seto and get the whole mess over with.

Seto opened the door abruptly, the infamous Kaiba glare adorning his face. Those beautifully scornful blue eyes totally wiped out what little ability to reason Jou had had to start with, and he said the only thing he could think of on the spur of the moment.

"I love you, Dragon Master."

………

__

I can't believe the words I hear

It's like an answer to a prayer

When I look around I see

This place, this time, this friend of mine

……….

Seto's heart surrendered to the words neither of them had expected without resistance.

"I'll tolerate Pegasus, but I don't have to like it," Seto grumbled.

"Thank you," Jou responded softly.

Seto nodded as though he were a benevolent king bestowing a great favor on a lowly peasant, though it was in truth the other way around. He waved Jou into the room, closed the door, and reached out to touch Joey's black and blue neck with the same fingers that had made the marks.

Jou flinched and backed away reflexively, and Seto jerked his hand away as though he'd been burned. They looked at each other, completely at a loss for a way to get beyond their earlier violent encounter.

Suddenly, Joey lunged at the brunet, aggressively capturing his mouth and forcing him to the floor, though Seto had no intention of fighting him off. No, the dragon master could live with being the victim of this particular assault. He tangled his fingers in the gold mane, unwilling to give Jou any chance for a reprieve; while the puppy was dominating him for the moment, he'd be damned if he was going to let go of the blond under any circumstances. Using his long legs for leverage, Seto rolled them so that Jou was pinned beneath him.

His deep, sultry voice trembled as it caressed the blonde's ear. "I hurt you because I hate _him._ I could have killed you because I want your father dead. I murdered Gozaburo, Jou. I…"

"Seto, shut up. I know. Mokuba told me," Joey confessed, trying once again to capture the lips of his beloved.

Seto pulled away, though, horror eating at the pit of his stomach. "What? Mokuba… Mokuba thinks it was a suicide…"

"Hey, you may have a genius IQ, but Kuba isn't stupid. He loves you. He knew you only wanted to protect him, and he's done his best to protect you in return." Jou explained, wondering what kind of Pandora's Box he'd just opened.

Seto got off of Joey, offering him his hand gallantly even as a perplexed expression began to appear on his face.

"Mokuba was unconscious . He doesn't know what happened…" he trailed off suddenly, his reasoning falling apart as he realized that he simply didn't want to believe that his little brother had witnessed his crime.

Jou wrapped his arms around him comfortingly, kissing his cheek in mute apology. "I'm sorry, Seto. You were so determined to tell me. I should have just let you, but you and Mokuba shouldn't have to keep secrets from each other. I learned that the hard way today. Serenity didn't know I was gay and Tristan ended up having to tell her. That's why she ran off."

Seto heard him, but his mind was still processing other data. He could hardly comprehend it through the veil of his shock. "Mokuba _watched _me kill Gozaburo?"

Joey nodded uneasily, and Seto retreated to the bathroom, locking the door as his sparse meal fought its way back up.

………

A few moments after her brother's exit, Serenity politely asked to be excused, and Tristan stood to accompany her. Almost as an afterthought, he turned to Croquet as they left. "Thank you for everything you did for us today."

Croquet merely nodded in acknowledgement. He had not actually done anything, but any attempt at modesty would probably have come off as a dismissal of the boy's obviously sincere gratitude.

Mokuba watched the door close behind the lovebirds before looking back at Pegasus. It seemed as though he'd been abandoned to his former kidnapper and said kidnapper's guard dog once again.

"Hmph... maybe someone would pay attention to me if you guys grabbed me and stuffed me in the dungeon again!" Mokuba pouted.

Pegasus roared with laughter. He adored Mokuba; it truly was a shame that he had to be Kaiba's brother. "What we have here, young Master Kaiba, is a bachelor's club." He glanced around the room, sniffing the air suspiciously. "Hmm... would you like to leave this stuffy hotel? Perhaps we could find something to entertain us outside."

"Er…Sir?" Croquet hated having to be the one responsible for opening this can of worms, but it couldn't be helped. If Pegasus found at later, his name wouldn't be Chris; it would be Mud. "On our way to Miss Serenity's home, I noticed that there is a Funny Bunny marathon in Central Park tonight."

"Truly?" Impish delight lit up Pegasus' face.

Mokuba couldn't help but giggle. There was a little boy inside this sinister man that reminded Mokuba of Peter Pan; a boy who had flat out refused to grow up.

"Shall we?" the silver-haired man asked of the ebony-haired boy.

"Sure. Why not?" Mokuba shrugged. "The rest of them will probably have more fun without us anyway." That said, he hopped down from his chair and headed for the door, Pegasus' rich laughter trailing him.

As they left, Croquet slapped a Post-it note on the door of the suite, the words on it written in his master's flawless script.

__

We have gone to Central Park.

Call should you need us.

Max, Mokuba, & Uncle Chris

………..

I know it's hard but you found somehow

To look into your heart and to forgive me now

You've given me the strength to see just where my journey ends

You've given me the strength to carry on

………..

"Seto? Hey, baby blue eyes, you okay?" Jou asked, standing outside the bathroom and listening nervously as his lover's retching died away.

The door swung inward to a very worn and exhausted brunet. "No, Jou, I'm not." Seto admitted, and all of his smug arrogance seemed to have melted along with his icy demeanour as he leaned on the doorframe heavily. "With all my power, with every ounce of strength I possess, I've tried to protect my brother's innocence. I've taken on the world so that he would never have to, and now I find out that he watched me kill the man who took us in as his sons, watched me take over that man's company like some... tyrannical dictator."

They sat across from each other on the floor of the small bathroom. Joey didn't know what to say, so he took Seto's hand and interlaced their fingers, squeezing gently every so often.

Suddenly, an epiphany struck his overtaxed mind. "Seto, maybe you don't hate Pegasus as much as you think you do."

"What!" Seto demanded.

"Think about it. You killed Gozaburo because he went after your brother, which forced you to take over Kaiba Corp. Then, Pegasus kidnapped Mokuba as part of a grand attempt to take over your company. You've kept everything bottled up inside for so long, never letting anyone get past your defenses. Is it possible that you're taking all of your repressed anger out on Pegasus because you can't take it out on Gozaburo?"

"Jou, you're not making any sense! Gozaburo is dead, and even if you were right, which you aren't, that still wouldn't change what Pegasus did to me and my brother!" With a growl of denial, Seto jumped to his feet and stepped over Jou on his way back to the bedroom.

Jou hung his head. He knew that he was right, at least to some degree . No, it didn't change what his father had done to the Kaiba brothers, but it made Seto's hatred easier for him to understand.

Jou walked up behind Seto and wrapped his arms around his lean waist, leaning up to whisper in his ear, "It's gonna be okay, Seto. Trust me."

"You, I trust. It's Pegasus I have my doubts about." The brunet sighed as he spoke. "You said I never let anyone past my defenses. I let you in, Jou. I needed you to know the truth."

Joey pressed his forehead into Seto's back, nuzzling gently. "Well, we're making progress. It wasn't so long ago that you trusted me with Mokuba, but not your heart."

"My heart is more fragile than glass, Jou. Please be careful with it."

"I will. I promise." Jou nipped at the back of the brunet's neck, sending shivers through his lover's lanky frame. Nuzzling the dragon master's neck, Joey put his fingers to work on the buttons of Seto's shirt.

"Mokuba." The older Kaiba brother stated flatly, and Jou's hands froze over the third button from the brunette's shirt collar.

"Mokuba?" That really hadn't been the name he had expected to come out of Seto's mouth right then.

Seto turned to face him, looking absolutely horrified. "I've left Mokuba alone with Pegasus all day!" he explained hastily, storming out into the hall and down to Pegasus' suite.

Jou braced himself for the coming storm, but the one that ensued was slightly different than the one he had imagined. Seto tore back into the room like a whirlwind, waving a small square of yellow paper under his puppy's nose.

"He's taken my brother! Again!" Seto roared, and Joey snatched the paper from his hands in order to decipher his father's calligraphic handwriting. It was hard enough to translate the artful designs into coherent letters when the sheet was perfectly still.

"Yeah, to Central Park," he told his infuriated lover calmly. "Seto, Mokuba was probably bored out of his mind. Pegasus is just trying to help, and besides, he even told us to call him if we wanted." Grinning, the golden boy draped himself over the still-fuming businessman. "If it makes you feel any better, you can hold me hostage until they come back."

Seto turned, his glare replaced by a devilish smirk as he moved to gather his new captive into his arms, but Jou danced out of his reach as thoughts of his own sibling, not to mention his best friend, began to crop up in his mind. "Hey, what happened to Serenity and Tristan?"

Now, it was Seto's turn to stare at him in equal parts frustration and bewilderment as Joey pulled out the keycard to his sister's room and left their suite. _My time as a drunk must have killed off more than its share of brain cells, _Seto thought to himself. _The puppy's making way too much sense tonight._

"Damn mutt," he said under his breath as he turned on his laptop and flipped his cell phone open.

…………

Jou opened the door to his sister's room, stopping short at the sight that met his eyes. Serenity was as tranquil as her name, her old rag doll tucked into her arms as she reclined in Tristan's arms, looking very much like a doll herself. Both of them were sound asleep, and even the overprotective Jou had to admit that they were just too cute to be separated. Besides, his baby sister looked safe enough for the moment.

He crept into the room to gather up everything he would need while he stayed in Seto's room, taking special care to be quiet as he did so. Leaving those items outside, he pulled the bedspread from the second bed and was beginning to cover them with it when Tristan's eyes cracked open sleepily.

Joey leaned over him, whispering, "Behave yourself, or you won't be breathing in the morning."

Tristan's eyes went wide in shock. The threat was no surprise, but the fact that Joey was going to let him stay there with Serenity certainly was.

That taken care of, Jou left his baby sister in Tristan's trustworthy care and went back to the love of his own life. He found Seto with his ear pressed into a cellular telephone while his hands flew across the laptop's keyboard at a speed that Joey was powerless to differentiate from that of speeding light. Evidently, the tall brunette was beginning to get very annoyed with whoever was on the other end of the line, and Jou looked over his shoulder to discover that Seto was using the Kaiba Corp satellites to track Mokuba. Seto had told Jou that he had inserted tracking chips into both of the brothers' lockets some time ago, when the blonde had become the Kaibas' chauffeur. In light of this information, therefore, there was only one person Seto could be arguing with so vehemently; Christopher Croquet.

On a whim, Joey snared the phone. To have attempted to grab the laptop would have been to court certain death, and the computer wouldn't have helped him much in any case. "Uncle Chris, is Mokuba there?" he asked nicely.

Seto's face turned positively ashen. First Father, now Uncle Chris? What was next, calling Duelist Kingdom 'home'?

"Thanks. Here, Seto. It's for you." Seemingly oblivious to the way his lover's jealousy was flaring up, Jou handed the telephone back to Seto as Mokuba came on the line.

The Kaibas talked briefly before Seto hung up, at least temporarily placated. "They'll be back in about an hour," he informed the blond, glancing at his watch as he did so.

Jou had gone over to one of the beds while Seto was on the phone, and was bouncing on it happily by the time he had put it back into his pocket. A feral gleam ignited in the watcher's eyes, and he dropped his unbuttoned shirt to the floor.

"This really is a pretty nice room, huh, Seto?" Jou said as he looked around, actually seeing their suite for the first time.

Seto silently toed off his shoes, his eyes never leaving the bouncing golden puppy as he began to edge towards him, gliding over the carpet like a spirit.

"Seto?" Jou finally noticed the change in his lover's demeanour, and his bouncing slowed gradually, eventually coming to a complete stop. Seto said nothing, simply moving forward at a controlled pace and watching as Jou's soulful brown eyes went wide.

"Uh oh." Joey gulped as he began to scramble across the bed, trying to put it between him and the sleek, graceful hunter who had chosen him as his prey. He might have succeeded too, if he hadn't been laughing so hard. As things were, though, Seto caught him by the ankle rather easily, dragging him down and allowing his long-fingered hands to work their way up one blue jean-clad leg.

Jou rolled, trying half-heartedly to break Seto's hold on him. "Seto…Mokuba will be back soon," he protested pathetically, knowing that if his lover's hand reached its destination, he would be powerless to resist any further.

"We have an hour, Pup." Seto's hand slid up Jou's inner thigh and into the cleft between the blond's legs.

As predicted, Jou whimpered and strained for more, forgetting his reservations completely. Unfortunately, Seto decided to move up to the blonde's waistband, hooking his fingers there as though he were marking his place and shifting Joey's T-shirt out of the way. Joey squirmed in frustration; he wanted those hands to go down his body, not up it.

As always, though, Seto had his own agenda, and he was not about to be deterred from it. He pinned Jou's wrists to his hips, effectively immobilizing the him on the mattress as he abused the puppy's navel. Jou struggled against him, convinced the dragon master was intent on driving him insane.

Seto managed to break away from Joey enough to get at the abused column of the other boy's neck, tenderly kissing the purplish splotches. Guilt overwhelmed him as Jou's low whimpers reached his ears, and he buried his face in his puppy's shoulder for a moment as his eyes began to tear. How could he have done this to Joey? How could he have wanted the honey-gold blonde dead, even for a millisecond?

"Hot…so hot…Seto…" Jou threw his head back as his blood rushed to the surface of his skin, making every inch of his body super-sensitive. It was like dying, being born, pain and ecstasy combined. He would never get enough of this potent drug that defied description, and yet he believed that if the sensation continued much longer, he would simply cease to exist as though he'd never been at all.

"Seto…" Jou looked into those depthless oceanic eyes and saw the intensity he felt reflected there. "What are you doing to me? Gotta stop…can't stop…never stop…"

Seto withdrew long enough to divest both of them of their remaining clothing, listening to Joey's small, wordless cries. Apologetically, he gathered his lover back into his arms. "I won't stop, Jou. I spent years provoking you just so I had an excuse to be close to you. Now that I have you, I intend to keep you forever."

"What, dragon-pup? What do you want?" Seto's deep husky voice combined with his musky scent overwhelmed Jou's senses. To the blond, it was as though a strong, enchanting incense, combined with the steamy heat of a sauna, had engulfed the reality of the ordinary hotel room. Seto had taken him to a plane of existence just beyond what he had always known as reality, he realized as he used his elbows to pull Seto's shoulders down and clawed his fingers into the silky, dark hair.

"Love me, Seto." Their mouths connected once more, the passion with which Joey drank Seto's breath from his lungs threatening to pull the dragon master's very soul from his body and into his puppy's.

Despite Joey's quite obvious desperation, however, Seto pulled away again. This caused Jou to cry out in an almost forlorn puppy wail, unable to understand why his master had left him at such a time. Then, Seto squeezed a jelly-like substance into his hand, and he began to figure it out.

"Oh…" Comprehension dawned in Jou's lust-glazed eyes with the brightness of a rising sun, and he made sure to coat Seto well. As Seto penetrated him, he looked up into a smirking face, and his brow furrowed in confusion once again.

"It's about time I turned _you _into a puddle of goo." Seto whispered into the blonde's ear, and the only reply Jou was capable of formulating was a low, appreciative moan as their bodies flowed together effortlessly, two parts of a single entity.

………..

__

I see the path from this dark place

I see my future

Your forgiveness has set me free

Oh and I can see another way

I can face another day

……….

It seemed only a few minutes later when a tapping on their door roused Seto and Joey from their post-intercourse stupor. "Mokuba!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes?" Seto called out toward the door, trying to buy precious seconds as he untangled himself from the twin snares of Jou and the rumpled blankets in order to locate his clothes.

"Big brother, I'm back! Wait until I tell you all the cool things I got to do tonight!" Mokuba said cheerily through the door. "Hang on, I've got my keycard here somewhere..."

The door started to swing open as Seto jerked on his pants, and he abandoned the thought of fastening them as he lunged for the door, intending to become a human barricade.

"No!" In his zeal, he nearly crushed his brother's fingers between the wooden panel and the doorframe as his shoulder connected with it, forcing it closed. Behind him, Jou giggled, tripped over the displaced bedspread and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Mokuba, wait there!" Seto called through the door, gathering up what he could find of Jou's clothes and dumping them on the blond, still lying on the floor immobilized by the force of his hysterics.

"Get dressed in the bathroom," he growled, "or I'm going to start calling you a hyena instead of a mutt." Jou certainly didn't seem to find _that _very funny, but he dragged himself up nonetheless, glaring at Seto in mock anger as he passed the usually-stoic dragon master.

"I _told _you we didn't have enough time, genius," he smirked, closing the bathroom door before Seto had a chance to reply.

………..

Mokuba stood in the hallway for what felt like forever, counting his fingers to make sure he still had all of them and shaking his head at the commotion in his brother's room. Finally, Seto opened the door to let him in, and the younger Kaiba gaped at the chaos in his brother's suite. _Hurricane Jou has definitely been through this room_, he decided, assuming that said destructive force was hiding out in the bathroom.

"If this is how you act when you fall in love, I think I'll pass, thank you very much!" His forced scowl contrasted sharply with his delighted, sparkling lavender-gray eyes as he hugged his still half-dressed brother.

Jou came out of the bathroom then, playing the part of the innocent, maligned scoundrel, while Seto was the one who looked like he'd come fresh from a sweaty battle.

"What happened to you?" Jou asked the older Kaiba innocently.

Seto stalked past him without answering, playfully knocking him upside the head on his way to the bathroom. He and Mokuba were going to have a long talk in the very near future, but he didn't want to think about that right then.

"I guess I showed up at a bad time, huh?" Mokuba asked with a sigh once his brother was out of sight.

"Nah. Did you have fun tonight, Kuba?" Jou ruffled the kid's hair. As a kid, he'd hated that, especially since he worked so hard to get his messy hairstyle just right, but somehow it felt appropriate in this case.

Mokuba grinned, eyed the bathroom door, and lowered his voice. "Your dad's pretty cool," he confided. "Not as cool as Seto, but…" Mokuba shrugged.

"Yeah, nobody's as cool as the Ice Man." Joey laughed, not sure if the faint noise he heard was his imagination or the grumbling of a very irate dragon master.

………..

__

I see the path, I can see the path

I see the future

I see the path from this dark place

I see my future

……….

Later that night, Seto lay awake as complicated thoughts centering around the blonde boy beside him battered his conscious mind. They had both been forced to experience too many of the negatives of life, but their major differences lay in their responses to the events over which they'd had little to no control. Jou understood risk as well as anyone, but was still ready to take on all challengers with an open heart and a cavalier grin on his face. Maybe the puppy didn't think his strategies through all the way, and perhaps he was a bit too willing to go wherever the wind took him, but Seto had remained rooted to the ground like a great oak long enough to know what it was to stagnate. Yes, he was rigid, proud, inflexible, and strong, yet he was also bound to his plot of earth like a prisoner. If he could not learn to sway with the wind, if he couldn't learn to bend, Jou would certainly leave him behind one day, and that scared him more than he had ever imagined anything could.

Seto had always believed vulnerability and compassion were weaknesses. Even before Gozaburo had come into his life, Seto had built a fortress around his heart that Gozaburo had reinforced into an impregnable palace, in which the blue-eyed boy's heart had withered with hate. Even against Mokuba, there were some barriers Seto always kept in place.

Usually he just took what he wanted, and felt no remorse over who he crushed in the process. He had railed against the love he felt for his golden boy, hating himself and Joey for it, only to discover there were forces in the universe more powerful than himself. He was only truly himself when he was alone with Jou; he had an insatiable hunger not only for the sensory pleasures, but also for the unconditional acceptance that banished the tormenting darkness that he had always faced alone. Joey Wheeler was the only one that could give him those things, and Seto knew that was why he would need to keep him around for the rest of his days. He had quite simply forgotten how to live without him.

He despised himself for not realizing that Mokuba had been watching while he forced Gozaburo out of the third story bedroom window to the paved patio below. Seto remembered shaking as he watched the pool of blood form under Old Man Kaiba's crushed head. The dark stain of the blood had remained on the cement despite rainstorms and the servants' best efforts to scrub it off. As soon as Seto and Mokuba's fates had been decided, Seto had had the patio dug up and Mokuba's elaborate swimming pool put in, but the stain still remained in Seto's soul.

He didn't understand why Mokuba had chosen to tell Jou his secret instead of him. Then again, knowing that Mokuba had watched him commit murder, he couldn't understand how either of the two boys in his life could look at him, much less love him.

Everything came back to the puppy. In a little over two months, Jou had buried both of the people who had raised him. His birth mother was long gone, and his biological father was a man Seto would just as soon have join the rest of Jou's parents as tolerate him.

And yet…

According to Jou, Pegasus had never wanted Kaiba Corp at all. He had been motivated by love, not greed or a lust for power. The Duel Monsters creator had seen potential in Seto's holographic designs that Seto himself had not. By combining the forces of modern science and ancient magic, Pegasus had endeavored to resurrect his late wife.

Jou's birth mother.

If Cecelia were alive…if what Jou said was true… perhaps Pegasus would turn his focus from Jou to his wife…

__

Useless, senseless, stupid, impossible! Seto berated himself. For one thing, even if the Millennium Eye could have brought back Cecelia's soul, Pegasus didn't have it anymore. For another, the level of technology necessary to create a _solid_ hologram didn't exist.

But…

Yugi and Bakura both had Millennium Items, and Seto could rise to any technological challenge.

What if it wasn't impossible? What if together, they could resurrect Cecelia Pegasus?

Taking care not to wake Jou, Seto slid from their bed to the table where his laptop rested, turning the machine on with renewed vigour. There was no way he was going to get any sleep while there was a possibility of getting rid of Jou's birth father in sight; he might as well be working on advancing his new goal.

The thought that perhaps he was being a little too productive never crossed Seto Kaiba's genius mind.

………

__

I see the path, I can see the path

I can see the future…


	32. Chapter 32 Midnight Meetings

****

Chapter 32: Midnight Meetings

Disclaimer: I still don't own it. Go figure.

……….

By the time the sun gave birth to Sunday morning, Seto had already spent hours tapping away at his link to the rest of the world. He had chosen research over rest, and to him, it had been worth every second. Now, he had a rough, sketchy concept of what would be involved in the creation of the most intricate, delicate, and intoxicatingly complex program he had ever attempted to write. More importantly, however, he knew that he could do it. The question was not one of ability, but of time.

Seto had decided that holographic technology alone would not be sufficient to produce a living human being. Cecelia's physical form would have to be a fusion between two different sciences; otherwise, all she would be was a three dimensional projection of light.

Ironically enough, the key to the entire thing had come to the brilliant CEO while he was sleeping off his hangover. Droning voices had entered the realm of his dreams, going on incessantly about the benefits of cloning, as well as the general public's misconception that an animal or human being could be cloned in its fully developed adult form. In reality, a clone developed from infancy and grew into a mature specimen, just like any other living organism.

Seto's hypothesis, therefore, involved using DNA structures to create a stable, biologically correct construct of Cecelia, then employing holograms to artificially produce that construct. His mind reeled from the possibilities and challenges this project presented, suffusing him with a heady enthusiasm that he seldom felt during the course of his life.

Getting an adequate sample of Cecelia's DNA wouldn't be too difficult. Pegasus was a romantic fool; he likely had a lock of Cecelia's hair laying around someplace. Of course, her body could always be exhumed, but if Pegasus objected to that, there was always the Jou-pup. He carried the DNA of both his parents, and Pegasus' could easily be screened out, leaving only Cecelia's.

As he plunged wholeheartedly into his latest task, Seto knew that he would eventually be able to reproduce the woman's body. It would be up to the others to retrieve her soul.

……….

That afternoon, everyone but Seto and Mokuba went to Maria's visitation at the funeral home. Although Seto had taken a break from his research and tentative calculations in order to eat lunch with Jou and Mokuba, he had returned to them as soon as he could.

Joey had no idea what his boyfriend was up to, but as long as it was keeping Seto out of trouble, he wasn't going to object. The blond had had a long talk with his boyfriend's brother about the repercussions of Jou's confession to Seto, and they had come to the decision that Mokuba should keep Seto company that afternoon. Left to their own devices, perhaps the Kaiba brothers would finally be able to resolve their three-year-old nightmare and put it behind them.

There was one tiny problem with this apparently flawless plan, however, which was that Mokuba's beloved big brother couldn't be pried away from his computer by anything short of a hurricane, or possibly a power failure, neither of which Mokuba possessed the ability to engineer himself. Undaunted, though, he sat patiently in the middle of one of the two beds, testing one strategy after another as he tried to come up with a Duel Monsters deck combination that might have a slim chance of standing up to Seto's.

Becoming absorbed in one's tasks was evidently a trait that the brothers shared, however, for Mokuba didn't even notice that Seto had stopped typing until the brunet moved a stack of cards over and sat down beside him. "What are you doing, Kuba?" Seto asked, blinking bloodshot, monitor-strained eyes furiously in an attempt to get them to work properly once more.

"I'm trying to build a deck that can beat yours," Mokuba confessed.

Seto snorted. "Not likely."

Mokuba playfully stuck his tongue out at his older brother. "And what are you working on?"

Seto sighed, having already decided to tell Mokuba just enough of the truth to satisfy his little brother's curiosity, but not enough that he would risk spoiling his puppy's surprise. "First, you have to promise me you won't to tell Jou anything. If he asks, just tell him it's something I'm working on for Kaiba Corp."

Mokuba nodded, and Seto continued, inexplicably reassured by this gesture. "It's a surprise for him, but I'm not sure how long it'll take to get the program working, if I ever do at all. That's why he can't know; I don't want to disappoint him."

"Is it another virtual reality game?" Mokuba asked hopefully. He had enjoyed the first one while Seto was testing it, and though this one would be Jou's, the raven-haired boy knew that the blond was too generous not to let him play as well.

"No, Kuba, this has more to do with holograms."

"Oh." Mokuba said, just the slightest bit disappointed. However, he'd rather see Joey happy than play some dumb old game any day.

An uneasy silence developed between the brothers. Neither of them knew how to bring up the subject of Gozaburo, and neither was sure he wanted to in the first place.

"Seto?" Mokuba finally ventured.

"Yes?"

"Are you angry at me?" The lavender-gray-eyed boy asked timidly, and Seto tensed up before relaxing once more, his gaze going soft in a way that only Mokuba and Joey would ever know.

"No, Mokuba. Why?"

"I should have told you about…about Gozaburo a long time ago." Mokuba said around a sigh, still uncertain that this statement was entirely true.

Seto nodded in agreement, wondering even as he did if that knowledge would have interfered with his focusing on what needed to done to gain both custody of his brother and control of Kaiba Corp. Perhaps, in fact, Mokuba's silence had shielded them both.

"Yes, Kuba, I wish you would have told me sooner. I wish you hadn't felt that you had to carry that burden alone." He reached out and stroked the silky ebony mane as he spoke, and Mokuba took his cue to climb into his brother's lap and wrap his arms around the taller boy's waist. "I wish you hadn't had to carry it all."

"You saved my life that day, Seto. He was going to kill me because he thought that would break you. He would have had complete control over you." Mokuba sobbed softly, though being held by his brother usually reassured him.

Seto had gone from relaxed to positively rigid. He hadn't known Gozaburo was actually attempting to murder Mokuba, and he clutched the small boy as tight as he could without seriously injuring him. "No one messes with my little brother and gets away with it," Seto growled fiercely, sapphire daggers dancing in his eyes.

Mokuba grinned up at Seto, the tears suddenly gone from his eyes. "I love you, too, big brother."

……….

Maria's funeral was on Monday morning. Having assumed parental responsibility of the Wheeler siblings, Pegasus took care of all the expenses and preparations, sparing them as many of the unpleasant details as possible.

Meanwhile, Serenity struggled to let go of the life she had always known. Every picture, every piece of clothing, and every household object had a story and she wanted to tell each one of them as the mismatched crew attempted to sort and pack, deciding what to keep and what to donate. To their credit, and Serenity's eternal gratitude, both Tristan and Pegasus proved to be good listeners while Croquet organized and kept the rest of his team of muscle-bound teenagers moving. Mokuba was more than willing to do his share and was ironically the more productive of the three remaining Domino residents. Seto kept grumbling about being treated like a pack animal, and Jou kept stopping to whistle at Seto whenever the brunet bent over to pick up a box, no matter how many times his newfound 'Uncle Chris' reminded him that his sister's things weren't going to move themselves.

For once, Seto's arrogant attitude was a complete and total bluff. Had they been in Japan, he could have called in a cleaning crew and had this task completed within hours, not days. He had said as much to Jou when the blond had returned from Maria's visitation, explaining that he felt Serenity would suffer needlessly as a result of having to discard her life piece by piece. Joey, however, had reminded him of the fire in which everything he'd held dear, including the life of Jonathan Wheeler, had been destroyed in a matter of minutes. He had nothing left but memories and his motorcycle, and he wanted to give his sister the gift of time.

Seto had few sentimental attachments to material objects beyond his Blue Eyes White Dragon cards and the locket around his neck that bore Mokuba's picture, but seeing the grief in Jou's eyes as he spoke of the fire had set of a pang of empathy in his once-frozen heart. When Jou had mentioned the motorcycle the brunet remembered suddenly that Jou only had it because of his timely intervention.

Still, Seto had an image to uphold, and did his best to maintain his icy façade in public, no matter how much he might have wanted to laugh at Jou's antics or, more likely, drag the blond into a corner and ravish him. _Work first, then play._

As it turned out, work left no time for play; when they returned to the hotel, it was past dinnertime, and Pegasus had a light meal sent up to his suite for everyone. The silver-haired man took care not to order too much; the memory of the previous night's wastage was still fresh in his mind, and while he certainly wasn't cheap, he hated seeing otherwise good food go to waste simply because their little group was more than a bit dysfunctional.

Despite the drastically reduced portions, though, the same stony silence reigned in the dining room until Joey put forward the possibility of cancelling their vacation altogether, in order to give Serenity time to settle into her new home. Though Serenity was against cancelling the trip entirely, she agreed to reschedule it until the next week at her brother's insistence. That taken care of, she turned to Pegasus as the older man took a sip of crimson wine.

"Sir, will you be coming with us?" she asked. Though she had fully embraced the idea of becoming the man's adopted daughter, she would be the first to admit that she still found him a bit intimidating at times.

While Pegasus would have been only too happy to join the vacationing teenagers, he was the consummate gentleman, and since no invitation had been extended to him, he would not impose his presence on the group. "Unfortunately, my dear, I must really be getting back to Duelist Kingdom; I fear that the castle will fall apart if Christopher and I stay away much longer."

……….

For the rest of the meal, Seto tried to make sense of the recent developments concerning the Wheeler siblings and their relationship with Maximillion Pegasus. Though he had been severely tempted to do his first happy dance when the silver-haired lunatic had told Serenity that he wouldn't be coming with them, he hadn't missed the dejected look that had immediately appeared on his puppy's face. Whether he liked it or not, Pegasus was important to Jou, and he was just going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice in tolerating him. If he didn't, he risked losing his lover to the man who had tried to steal his company simply because he had refused to share, like a bratty child.

Therefore, as they were getting ready for bed that evening, Seto turned to Jou and told him that if he wished to invite his father to come with them, he wouldn't put up a fight. The blond was far too accustomed to Seto's ulterior motives for his own good, though, and the brunet spent more than half an hour trying to convince Joey that he didn't have any hidden agenda before giving up and taking things into his own hands.

Leaving his bewildered mutt behind for the time being, he strode confidently down the hall to Pegasus' suite and pounded on the door loud enough to wake the dead. He would need to speak to his enemy privately sooner or later; it might as well be now, while he had another reason to be associating with the man.

Eventually, Pegasus opened the door, dressed in a black brocade dressing gown. Despite the fact that it was past midnight, not a single silvery hair on his head was out of place, and Seto found that just the slightest bit unnatural as he brushed his own auburn locks away from his eyes. "Although you and I do not seem to require our beauty sleep, Kaiba-boy, I am sure that there are other occupants of this noble establishment that do. It would most likely be in our best interest to respect that need if we wish to avoid being thrown out into the street before daybreak."

Seto barged past him and into the suite, a scowl already frozen on his face. "You think you're funny, don't you, Pegasus?"

"Yes, actually." Pegasus smirked. It was truly evil how much enjoyment he derived from annoying his son's boyfriend, but it was a vice he was powerless to deny. Kaiba was just such an easy target, after all. "You really should lower your voice, however," he admonished. "You'll wake Chris, and he deserves some rest."

Seto's eyes traveled to the bedroom door, and he wondered just how far Croquet would go to in order to keep his master happy before deciding that he really didn't want to know.

"Did you want something, Kaiba-boy?" Pegasus' voice drew him back to the present, and the older man's knowing smirk grated against what was left of Seto's nerves.

"I came to invite you to join us on our vacation!" Seto snapped in exasperation. The only person who could make him lose his temper faster than Pegasus was Jou. As this thought crossed his mind, Seto groaned involuntarily. It was a genetic trait that had been passed from father to son; he was doomed to have a short temper for the rest of his life.

"Would you care to sit down, or would you prefer to charge about like a caged wildcat?" Pegasus asked smoothly as Seto began to stalk back and forth, in serious danger of wearing a hole in the carpeting. Though his glare didn't soften one bit, Seto sat down. His purpose in being there was not to exacerbate matters, but in order to avoid that, he would have to be something approaching civil to his worst enemy, and accepting said man's hospitality without a fight would probably be a good start towards that end.

"I'm astonished, Kaiba-boy." Pegasus said, sitting in the chair across from the sofa that the brunet occupied. "You are actually extending another invitation to me on Joseph's behalf? Should I be asking what your intentions are toward my son?"

Seto growled. The concept of teamwork alone was alien enough to him, and the thought of doing anything with _Pegasus _made Seto's blood boil with hate. Therefore, he preferred to consider his little proposal a 'gift' of sorts, although it was most certainly not the peace offering it seemed to be on the surface.

He given serious thought to the price he could demand from Pegasus for developing such radical technology. The idea of claiming Industrial Illusions and the rights to the Duel Monsters game itself did not seem too high in exchange for Pegasus' wife, yet those were Jou's rightful inheritance and Seto didn't really want or need either. Blackmail, too, was out of the question. Even if Pegasus were willing to abandon his son again, Seto knew that the toll that would take on Jou might well tear them apart in the long run, especially if the golden dragon-pup ever found out just who was responsible for his one remaining parent deserting him. If only he could exact his revenge without Jou getting caught in the crossfire... unfortunately for him, though, it just wasn't possible. In the end, there was nothing Seto wanted from the man other than his son, and he already possessed Jou as completely as the other boy would ever allow himself to be possessed by anyone.

Seto was so lost in his musings that he didn't even notice Croquet's cautious entrance. The bodyguard was dressed in a simple white T-shirt and pajama pants, and the brunet was only aware of his presence when the ammunition clip of the bodyguard's Glock clicked into place not ten feet from his skull.

"Well, your pit bull is awake." Seto snarled, not the least bit apprehensive about the fact that his life was now in Croquet's hands. The man obeyed Pegasus, and said inventor wouldn't dare harm him for fear of losing Jou once again, this time forever.

"What _is_ your obsession with dogs, Kaiba-boy?" Pegasus countered, pretending not to notice that his manservant was about one finger spasm away from killing the young CEO.

"Sir?" After the events of the past few days, Croquet had had enough of Kaiba to last a lifetime. All his frayed patience needed was an excuse to pull the trigger, and he would do it gladly.

"It's all right, Chris. For goodness sake, put that thing away before someone gets seriously injured." Pegasus waved at the gun disapprovingly, and the weapon disappeared into the bedroom. Croquet himself, though, began to hover protectively at his master's shoulder, something that Pegasus appeared accustomed to.

Seto glared at Pegasus' protector, deciding to ignore the annoying man rather than get into a dispute with his employer concerning his presence that he would likely lose.

"Look, Pegasus. There is something I have to know." he said, sitting back and taking a deep breath as he prepared to launch into his carefully-organized proposal.

"And that would be...?" Pegasus prompted.

"Jou told me that your whole insane plot to takeover Kaiba Corp was because you wanted to use my technology to create a hologram of your wife. Is that true?" Seto's previously neutral tone became cold as he remembered the incident that had, ultimately, gotten Mokuba locked in a dungeon and both their souls stolen by the same madman that he was now being so foolish as to try and help. _The things I do for the mutt..._

Pegasus sighed, wondering if he was ever going to escape that episode of his life. He found it quite painful to be reminded over and over again that he had failed to resurrect Cecelia, especially when one such as Kaiba was rubbing salt into the still-unhealed wound with every syllable he uttered. "Why do you ask, Seto?"

Inwardly, the other businessman winced. Though he detested hearing his given name on his enemy's lips, however, even he had to admit that it was an improvement over the insulting Kaiba-boy. _Why can't the man simply call me Kaiba, and why does he have to answer a question with a question?_

"Yes or no, Pegasus. Were you attempting to create a body to house the soul of Jou's mother, or did you have a different agenda?"

"What Joseph told you is the truth," the silver-haired man admitted.

"You really didn't want Kaiba Corp at all?"

"No, Seto, nor did I _want_ to put your brother in the dungeon, but he proved to be as wily as Croquet when it comes to masterful escapes," Pegasus continued to explain. "As long as we're setting the record straight, I might as well let you know that I wouldn't have captured either of your souls had I not been forced to."

"Yet you sent your goons to kill me as part of your deal with the Big Five," Seto growled.

"Actually, Kaiba-boy, I would have taken the first opportunity that came along to double-cross the Big Five. Had you not jumped off that cliff so quickly, you would have learned that my security team was ordered to bring you back to Duelist Kingdom alive. Of course, I could have simply had my technology experts pick apart your holographic design to get what I wanted, but it would have taken so much longer to reach my goal without the aid of your genius brain." Pegasus had become rather gloomy by the end of his speech, and the last few words were spoken around a sigh. "If I had known that I was destined to meet with such failure..."

"I'll do it." Seto interjected. A condescending Pegasus, he could deal with; a depressed and moping Pegasus wasn't an idea he cared to dwell on too much.

"What?" The older man's head shot up, his single remaining eye meeting Seto's gaze dead-on, and it was all he could do to hold back the hope that threatened to fill that chocolate-brown orb.

"I've started the research already. It may take months, perhaps even years to perfect the program, but I will create a body for your wife," Seto promised his lover's father, feeling a sudden surge of empathy with Pegasus. If it were Jou that had fallen victim to some terminal disease, Seto wouldn't have stopped trying to bring his puppy back until he fell dead himself from exhaustion.

Pegasus arched one graceful eyebrow while Croquet dug his fingernails into the chair that his master currently occupied hard enough to pierce tiny crescents into the decorative fabric covering it.

"Are we talking about revenge or blackmail here, Kaiba-boy?" Pegasus purred. Despite his understandable inclination towards hopefulness, he hadn't forgotten to whom he was speaking by any stretch of the imagination.

"Neither," Seto replied shortly, and Pegasus' eye narrowed suspiciously. Abruptly, the brunet leapt to his feet, but Croquet inserted himself instantly between the other two men, a gesture that frustrated Seto, who had never had any use for bodyguards, to no end.

"You're a coward, Pegasus!" the dragon master roared. "All you can do is hide behind your guards... and your castle walls! Don't you ever fight your own battles?"

"You of all people, Kaiba, should be aware that I do," Pegasus replied dangerously, waving his long-time companion away. "Christopher, please."

Croquet retreated to his original place behind Pegasus' armchair, but his eyes never left Seto for a moment, and his muscles had yet to relax. "You don't expect me to believe that you've decided to create a hologram of my late wife out of the goodness of your heart, do you, Seto?" Pegasus couldn't help but be irritated, more with the circumstances than with Seto himself. "You would be wasting your time. A fancy hologram cannot replace my Lady. Though I appreciate the offer, Seto, it simply would not be enough."

"You're giving up just because you lost your little gold eyeball?" Seto sneered. "If their loss cripples you so, perhaps you should take more care to ensure that your valuables remain safe."

His anger finally erupting from a few embers into a full-fledged blaze, Croquet jerked the chair that his employer was sitting in. "You cocky, arrogant, egotistical whelp! You have no right to disrespect him; you know nothing of what he's had to endure over the years!"

Pegasus was mildly surprised by his servant's outburst; the salt and pepper haired man rarely, if at all, lost control of his temper. Gently, the silver-haired billionaire reached up and patted Croquet's hand briefly in an effort to calm his friend down. "Your intervention is appreciated, Christopher, but quite uncalled for at the present time." As the tension level rose in his outer reality, Pegasus closed his eye, withdrawing into his mind in an attempt to relax himself. Behind him, Croquet's hands unclenched from the chair's upholstery, and the rest of his body followed suit.

"I cannot bring back her soul," Pegasus said at length, and his tone was one of forlorn defeat. What tragic irony; Kaiba was freely offering to help him reclaim Cecelia now, after he had lost the ability to return her soul to the mortal realm. His frustration was nearly unbearable; it seemed as though he was cursed to forever be tempted and tortured by fate.

"Could Yugi Motou bring her soul back?" Seto asked seriously, and Pegasus gasped in shock. It had not occurred to him that it might be possible to acquire the willing cooperation of others; all of his elaborate plots and schemes, after all, had been designed to cover his true intentions, a delicately crafted mask behind which to hide the shards of his broken heart.

His entire life, Pegasus had been somewhat ostracized, and he had expected his radical dreams to be shunned, laughed at, and met with resistance or denial. It was, after all, absurd to believe a mere mortal could raise the dead. However, Yugi had the Millennium Puzzle, along with its powerful magics and the mysterious being attached to it, while Bakura had the Ring, and they were both Joseph's friends…was it possible?

"Yugi would do anything within his power to help Jou." Seto continued, seemingly oblivious to Pegasus' meditations. "Do you believe this falls into that category?"

"Possibly," Pegasus nodded.

"The main thing, Pegasus, is that you must swear not to breathe a word of this to Jou until the program is functional." Seto folded his arms over his chest as he placed his only condition on the offer.

"I agree," Pegasus consented. There was no point in raising Joseph's hopes; it was bad enough having his own raised once more.

"And don't get the idea that I am doing this for your benefit. I don't like you, I don't trust you, and quite frankly, I despise you. You're a miserable, conniving conartist. I'm doing this for Jou," Seto told the other man bluntly.

"Oh, I understand, Kaiba-boy. I would not _dare _dream that you had had a change of heart concerning your opinion of me." Pegasus shot back sarcastically, his former candor having returned with a vengeance.

Seto growled, and it was all he could do to resist the urge to throttle Pegasus. "Do you happen to have a lock of Cecelia's hair?" he demanded, changing the subject before even his formidable self-control could crack.

"Yes, Seto, I do. Why do you ask?"

"I believe that by inserting Cecelia's DNA into the holographic program, it will be possible to duplicate her body exactly in a solid, adult form. It will be as if time stopped and she never died."

Pegasus' single eye went wide with amazement. "Hmm… Please, continue."

"This is all conjecture at this point. I won't be able to test my theory until I get to my lab and have the DNA sample," Kaiba explained, stopping when Pegasus raised his left hand regally.

"Well, my dear Kaiba-boy, I know you are the one man on the planet who is both trustworthy and brilliant enough to pull off such a daring feat."

"Trustworthy?" Kaiba choked.

Pegasus raised an eyebrow as he rose from his chair and opened the door for the young CEO, indicating that this particular meeting had drawn to a close. He wasn't about to repeat himself for the benefit of Kaiba's ego. "Perhaps some sleep would be in order, Seto? We can't have you collapsing from exhaustion, now can we?"

Seto was still so taken aback by the concept that Pegasus actually trusted him that he simply did as he was told without argument.


	33. Chapter 33 Leather Dice and Inked Dragon...

Chapter 33: Leather, Dice, and Inked Dragons

Disclaimer: disclaimed.

……….

The entire group was packed and ready to leave for Domino by 10 A.M. Wednesday morning, and as he boarded his father's jet, Jou felt as though he'd spent a lifetime in New York City. He remembered working at the White Tiger, saving his paycheck to buy Serenity an airplane ticket back to Domino for a visit, and longing to take her to the beach. He had daydreamed about what he would do after high school, about going to college in New York, but most strongly and often about a time when no one would be able to separate him from his baby sister again. Those were now little more than memories of dreams from his childhood, though; he now knew that he had only been a boy until the night an explosion had rocked his world, destroying it as surely as it had destroyed the Sennen Elephants apartment building.

Somehow, things had not worked out the way he had thought they would, and until that very moment he couldn't have defined the word 'nostalgia'. All that had been torn from him had been returned tenfold; all the gems and precious treasures he would ever need were the twin sapphires that were his lover's eyes.

Of course, he still had his friends, and he and his little sister would never be separated again. He had even gained a little brother through his beloved dragon master. Yes, he had lost a father, but another had stepped forward, a man who just happened to be the ruler of a corporate empire. Jou had stumbled into a demented fairy tale, and he really hoped there would be a 'and they lived happily ever after' tacked onto the end of it.

Despite all of this, though, he was still a little sad. None of it could make up for the loss of the life he'd once known: not now, not ever. Sighing deeply, he reminded himself that it was pointless to dwell on the past; even if he did nothing else for the rest of his life, he would still never be able to return to it.

Wearily and to no one in particular, Joey asked, "When will we get back to Domino?"

He couldn't wait to get home and get Serenity settled in, in spite of the fact they would be leaving once again a few days later, not to mention that it might be a while before everything seemed normal again to him.

In response to Joey's question, Tristan did a head slap and turned to Seto. "He's all yours. Have fun explaining this one to him." Relieved that he wouldn't have to undertake that gargantuan task himself this time around, he took Serenity by the hand and began to familiarize her with the jet. She looked at him quizzically as he did so, and he sighed. "It's a long story, Sweetness."

Instead of the dragon master, however, it was Croquet who dared to answer Joey's question. "We will arrive in Domino at 2 P.M. Thursday afternoon, Master Joseph. Fourteen hours of actual flight time plus fourteen hours of time zone changes will make it as though twenty-eight hours have passed."

Jou's mouth formed a large 'O', but it was clear that he was probably even more clueless than when he had asked the question. Croquet started to make another attempt at explaining it to him, but Joey just held up a hand to stop him. "I'll just take your word for it, Uncle Chris, but thanks anyway."

……….

Serenity had gotten all of her possessions moved in by the time Friday morning dawned, bright and beautiful in Domino, transforming the bachelor flat into a comfortable, cozy home. She would have been reasonably content with her situation had it not been for her brother's incessant pacing, which was obviously doing nothing to calm him down and driving her insane in the process. To Serenity, the stress Seto Kaiba caused Joey was enough reason to dislike her brother's billionaire boyfriend; as soon as _Illusionary Airs_ had landed in Domino, Seto had arranged for a car to pick him up and whisk him away to Kaiba Corp, and no one had heard from him since.

Who knows what wild thoughts are rampaging through Joey's head right now? Serenity thought to herself, feeling completely powerless to console her brother. It didn't help matters that Seto's secretary had firmly informed both Mokuba and Joey that her boss was not to be disturbed from his work unless anything earth-shattering happened, further defining earth-shattering as the mansion burning to the ground or someone becoming seriously ill.

"Joey, please." Serenity begged, latching on to his left forearm and digging her heels into the linoleum in what she considered a pathetic attempt to stop her brother's mad stride. If he truly wanted to wear a hole through her floor, she doubted there was anything she could do to stop him.

"What?" he asked her, having been startled out of his thoughts. Mercifully, his pace slowed, then stopped completely, and Serenity let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Please stop pacing," she elaborated as she slipped her hand into his. "You promised you'd tell me about these paintings last night, remember?"

"Yeah. Father painted the one of him and I," Jou began, eventually launching into the story of the dinner party that had transpired only a week ago.

"And the one with Red Eyes? You painted it, didn't you? It reminds me of the one in your room at the apartment you shared with Dad." She spoke softly, wondering just how painful it was for Joey to be reminded of the fire that had nearly taken his life as well as her father's.

Joey simply nodded his confirmation of the artist's identity, though, so Serenity decided to press him further. "Who's the girl in the painting? She looks a little like Mai, only softer."

The blond locked his amber eyes with his sister's slightly darker ones. "Her name was Cecelia. She's my mother."

Serenity's jaw dropped open in confusion, but Joey was already filling in the details for her. "She died not long after Pegasus painted our portrait. It broke his heart, Sis, and I think it almost broke his mind. He put me up for adoption because he couldn't deal with his grief."

"But…but, Joey…"

"What, Sis?"

"That means you must have known for a while. that you must have found out who your birth parents were shortly after you found out you'd been adopted. Why didn't you tell me?" Serenity felt torn between anger and despondence again. She was getting tired of finding out the _little_ details of her brother's seemingly secret life on her own. It had gotten to the point where she was beginning to question whether the unconditional trust she had always extended to the man before her had been completely misplaced.

Joey tensed and let go of her hand, drawing away from her as he prepared for another emotional confrontation.

"Joey, I'm sorry. I'm not accusing you of anything. I just want to understand." Serenity explained quietly, and her brother felt his defensiveness melting away.

"I was shocked, Sis. I'd met him on Duelist Kingdom, and he didn't impress me as being someone I wanted to know, much less be related to. I was so confused about it," he said, just as softly.

"But you've changed your mind, right?" She smiled up at him hopefully, and Joey grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah. I've been doing a lot of that lately," he admitted, scratching his head absently.

"Uh huh," Serenity nodded knowingly. "Like how you hated Seto until you fell in love with him?"

Joey blushed and then, to Serenity's dismay, started pacing again. The brunette massaged her temples gently, trying to ward off the beginnings of a frustration headache.

"Joey, why don't you call Yugi and spend some time with him today? I still have some things to do, and I'm sure Mokuba will keep me company if I get bored," she suggested gently.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Jou asked her, suddenly suspicious.

"Is it that obvious?" Serenity smiled, and her brother rolled his eyes half-heartedly.

"Ah, all right." Joey conceded. Moving over to the phone, he lifted the receiver and dialed Yugi's number, leaning against the wall as he waited for his best friend to answer.

Across the room, Serenity flopped down on the couch exhausted. She loved Jou, but there were times when she just needed a break from his antics. _Let Yugi deal with him for today._

……….

Solomon Motou handed Jou a broom as soon as the younger man dismounted his motorcycle. "Before you boys go off gallivanting, Yugi has to finish his chores. You may as well help him as sit around and wait."

Joey grinned, "Sure thing, Gramps."

As he swept the sidewalk, he found himself longing for the days before he had inherited a game tycoon father and hooked up with a billionaire boyfriend. Coming to the Motou's game shop was like coming home, revisiting his childhood, and he leaned against the broom as he closed his eyes, losing himself in the beauty of that particular daydream.

"Hey, Joey, are you okay? If you're going to fall asleep standing up, you should lean against something sturdier than Grandpa's broom." Yugi grinned, pulling the broom out of his friend's hands.

"Nice to see you too, Yug." Jou smiled wistfully.

"What's wrong, Joey?"

"Oh, I was just daydreaming about the good old days; my misspent youth and all that." Joey quipped, only half joking.

Yugi nodded his acknowledgement as he glanced over his shoulder nervously. If they lingered too long, his grandpa would have no problem finding them more chores to do.

Joey laughed and tossed Yugi the spare helmet as his friend climbed onto the back of his bike, wrapping his arms reflexively around the blonde's waist. "Don't worry. I won't let him get you."

………..

Their journey began at the mall, where Yugi made a beeline for Gothic Goodness.

"Nope. No way are you getting me in there," Jou told his buddy as he backed away from the store front, which featured black plaster columns and equally fake plaster vines.

"Joey, this is like, the most awesome store in Domino…" Yugi grabbed the blond by one arm, pulling with all the strength he could muster.

Jou, however, held his ground. "You ever been shopping here with Mokuba?" he demanded.

Yugi stopped in his tracks, his lavender eyes wide with feigned innocence as he cocked his head subtly to one side. "Why do you ask, Joey?"

Jou groaned.

"Come on, it won't be all bad!" Yugi baited. "You might even find something…uh, provocative to wear for Seto-kun."

Joey's eyes went wide with horror. "Promise you won't ever suggest anything like that again, and I'll go quietly."

Yugi nodded happily in agreement; he didn't particularly enjoy prying into his best friend's sex life anyway.

………..

An hour later, they finally left the racks of leather and spike-adorned accessories behind. While Joey was carrying two shopping bags, Yugi held only a single small one containing a new neck belt. At the moment, the latter of the two was valiantly attempting to hide his giggles from his tall blond friend, and failing miserably.

"Yug, I don't want to hear it!" Jou protested.

"I'm not saying a word," Yugi proclaimed, trying to look maligned even as he began to crack up once again.

An evil glint appeared in Joey's amber-gold eyes as he stashed their purchases in his bike's saddlebags. "We should go see what Duke is up to these days," he suggested, and Yugi became more than a little concerned.

"You're not going to challenge him to a duel, are you?" The tricolor-haired teen asked.

"Nah, Yug. I got nothing to prove to him. It's just that my pop is ol' Dukie-boy's business partner. All I want to do is rub it in." Jou grinned broadly, rubbing his hands together in spiteful glee. "That oughta teach him that nobody puts Joey Wheeler in a dog suit and gets away with it!"

Yugi mumbled something that sounded a lot like, "Yeah, except maybe Seto." before clearing his throat loudly. "Just don't overdo it, okay, Joey?"

"Yug, when have I ever overdone something?" the taller man asked in all seriousness as he donned his helmet and handed Yugi the other one.

Aibou, just be sure he knows we aren't going to get his tail out of the dog suit again.Yami stated from within the Puzzle, showing exactly how much faith he had in the prospect of Joey not overstepping his boundaries.

Yugi snickered at this, and Joey misinterpreted that as a sign that his best friend was also looking forward to their visit with the dice master as he started up his bike.

……….

They arrived at Duke's flashy game shop a few minutes later. Yugi trailed the far too cocky blond through the store, making mental notes about things he wanted to mention to his grandpa. It never hurt to keep an eye on the competition, especially when said competition had invented as complex a game as Dungeon Dice Monsters.

"Hey, Duke, how's business?" Joey greeted the young inventor happily.

"Joey! Yugi! What brings you here?" Duke looked up from rearranging a display, toying with his dangling dice earring as his emerald eyes locked onto the blonde. "Hey, when is your sister coming back to Domino for a visit?"

Jou's grin got wide enough to split his face in two. "She isn't." It was his turn to pause before adding, "She moved here."

"Permanently?" Duke asked hopefully.

Yugi felt slightly confused listening to their conversation. He couldn't imagine Joey wanting Serenity to date playboy Duke Devlin instead of Tristan, who would gladly jump through hoops of fire for either one of the Wheelers. Still, though, why else would Jou have volunteered any information concerning Serenity's unplanned relocation so readily?

"Well, we'll probably be splitting our time between Domino and Duelist Kingdom," Jou said smugly, watching little flashes of green envy ignite in Duke's eyes.

"Duelist Kingdom?" Devlin choked out around a muted growl. "And why would _you _have any reason to go to Duelist Kingdom?"

Jou gave Yugi a thumbs up. His trap had been set perfectly; all that was left was to spring it.

Yugi attempted to give Duke a little warning by saying, "After the fire, Joey found out he was adopted."

"Yeah." Joey agreed. "And my biological father lives on Duelist Kingdom. Since Serenity's mom died last Saturday, my father offered to adopt her." He found the deeply puzzled frown on Devlin's face rather amusing, taking a moment to savor it before he dropped his bombshell. "My father is your business partner, Dukie-boy," he managed to get out before he fell victim to hysterical laughter.

Devlin didn't find this at all funny, and Joey's laughter only reinforced his impression that he was being played for a fool. He gave a derogatory snort before replying. "Oh, that was good, Joey. Obviously, Kaiba isn't keeping you busy enough trimming hedges and babysitting Mokuba. If you ever want to put all that extra time of yours to better use, I could always use a dog-boy mascot for my store." The dice master's voice was cool, his tone guarded, as emerald and amber clashed.

"Uh, Duke, he's telling you the truth." Yugi interjected, trying to avoid a fistfight.

While his best friend played peacemaker, Joey envisioned his avenging angel, dressed to the nines in a flared out white trench coat, storming through the store and flattening the Dungeon Dice inventor.

Duke laughed aloud at the sheer absurdity of the situation, realizing only too late that they were serious. "M-Maximillion P-Pegasus is…is your father?" he stammered, taking a step back and stumbling over a display, ending up on the floor minus his former haughtiness. "Can I still date your sister?" he asked. If Serenity really was Pegasus' adoptive daughter, she was even more desirable, for a relationship with her would put him in closer proximity with his idol than he had ever dreamed possible.

Joey frowned. "Duke, you ain't gotta prayer with Serenity. If you come near her, I won't have to deck you, 'cause Tristan will do it for me. And trust me on this: you don't want to go hand to hand with Tris. But, hey, it's your funeral." Jou shrugged, spinning on his heel and stalking out of the game shop.

"Uh… See you around, Duke." Yugi gave the pony-tailed game inventor a parting wave before sprinting after the long-legged blond, leaving Duke to clean up the mess the dynamic duo had left in their wake.

He found Jou outside, leaning against the building with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Revenge is sweet, Yug," Joey grinned as he pushed away from the wall.

Yugi shook his head, but grinned back anyway. "So, how do you like having Pegasus for your dad?"

Jou shrugged again, all his residual nostalgic feelings vanquished for the moment. "Let's just say that there are advantages to being well-connected."

"In your case, it's definitely not what you know, but who you know," Yugi joked, degenerating into a fit of giggles. Joey chuckled as well; that is, until the comment actually sank in.

"Hey!" he cried out indignantly.

Yugi calmed down enough to ask, "What are we going to do next?" thereby effectively distracting his friend.

"Let's check out the tattoo parlor across the street." The devious glimmer had returned to Jou's eyes.

"Uh, Grandpa would disown me if I got a tattoo," Yugi objected.

"Yeah, but he approves of buckles and leather?" Jou asked with raised eyebrows. "I wasn't suggesting _you _get one."

"But you hate needles," The King of Games reminded the Prince of Duelist Kingdom.

"Eh, they ain't so bad." Joey said, more to reassure himself and bolster his courage than to impress Yugi. Then, steeling himself, he stepped out into the street and set off for the tattoo parlor.

……….

A thin, scraggly woman appeared from the back room of Angel's Tattoo Emporium as Joey and Yugi entered. Her hardened face and sunken cheeks caused her to look a haggard fifty, but in truth, she was barely thirty.

"Can I help you boys?" The hollow way she spoke made filled both teens with the desire to bolt from the dim interior of tattoo parlor and seek refuge in the sunshine.

Despite that wish, though, Jou was determined to go through with his plans. He pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his billfold and showed it to Angel, telling her what he wanted done and negotiating a fair price with her. Yugi was slightly taken aback, realizing that his impulsive buddy had planned this all out ahead of time.

"Wow!" Yugi exclaimed once he got a look at the sketch. Done in watercolor pencils, it was a drawing of a Duel Monsters card that didn't exist…yet, Yugi thought as he realized Jou now had the means to create his own cards. Of course, this particular monster was a dragon, and a most unusual dragon at that. In fact, the Amber Eyes Gold Dragon bore a striking resemblance to its creator. It was incredibly detailed, and Yugi's eyes were drawn to the markings that ran along the serpentine beast's back, which were actually letters in disguise.

"Property of Seto Kaiba!" Yugi squealed, taking a few moments to translate the message.

Jou just grinned and placed a finger to his lips. _Hush, Yugi._

……….

A couple of hours later, they left the tattoo parlor. Jou's arm stung like crazy from the needles, but it was so worth the pain. The dragon had come out perfectly, and Joey hoped that it would reassure Seto of his commitment to his dragon master. He dropped Yugi off at the Turtle Game Shop before returning to the Kaiba Estate, disappointed to find that Seto wasn't home yet. He consoled himself by crashing Serenity and Mokuba's DDR party, putting both of the younger teens to shame with a few rather seductive dance moves in the process.

"Prizes go to the losers!" Jou announced when the game was over, pulling out the two Gothic Goodness shopping bags and handing one to each of them.

"Cool!" Mokuba held up a pair of black zip away shorts with blue and white flames shooting up the legs, along with a hooded blue midriff muscle shirt. "I thought you didn't like that store, Joey."

"I don't…well, actually, I might be getting used to it." The tall blond shrugged.

Serenity smiled as she pulled out hot pink satin side-tie shorts and a black camisole top with a hot pink metallic butterfly on it. "Thank you, Joey. What did you get yourself?"

Jou shook his head, smiling impishly. "Nothing."

"Did you get something for Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"Yep," Jou grinned from ear to ear. "But you have to promise not to tell him."

"Not to tell him what?" Seto asked, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest.

The boys moved so quickly that Serenity couldn't tell which one made it to the elder Kaiba first. All she knew was that, by the time she was able to turn around, Mokuba had his arms wrapped around Seto's waist while Jou clung onto him from behind, both arms across his lover's chest.

"Big brother!" Mokuba smiled brightly, letting go of Seto to perform an abbreviated version of his happy dance.

"Seto, you're home! Now, you're going to stay home, right?" Jou asked, clutching the taller man even more tightly.

Seto smirked smugly. "You act like I've been gone for a month," he said to the boys before turning to his boyfriend's sister. "Hello, Serenity."

"Hi," she replied, smiling politely. Though she still wasn't sure what to think of her brother's relationship with the cold, hard-as-nails young man, she could see how pleased he was to be welcomed home so enthusiastically. "I think I'll go back to the apartment. I'm pretty tired."

"Okay, Sis. I'll be there in a few." A few _what,_ Joey failed to specify, and that fact was not lost on Serenity, who nodded and kissed her brother affectionately on the cheek.

"Yeah, I think I'll turn in too." Mokuba said, eyeing the game room, which was so badly trashed that it looked like he'd had twenty of his closest friends over.

"Good try, Kuba. You're not leaving all of this for Liz. Clean it up." Seto walked out of the room, Mokuba's protests chasing him down the hall. Ignoring the raven-haired boy, he went to the library, closing the doors behind himself and Jou.

"I feel like you've been gone for a month," Joey told him, wrapping his arms around the tall brunet once more.

Seto was completely content in the gentle embrace. It made everything else worth it. "I haven't been gone a month, dragon-pup: barely even a full day."

"Speaking of dragon-pups…" Jou grinned, gingerly rolling up the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal the tattoo of a young gold dragon, complete with tousled mane and huge amber-brown eyes. Gracefully muscular, the dragon's body was covered in scales that were cleverly designed letters.

Seto smiled the biggest, most genuine smile Jou had ever seen on the dragon master's face. Soft blue eyes met soulful brown, and Seto stroked his lover's hair absently. "I wish it had been my idea to mark you like this," he whispered before pulling the blond into a deep hungry kiss.

"Even geniuses can't think of everything," Jou grinned once they came up for air. "You are home for the night, aren't you?"

Seto chuckled, nodding slowly.

Jou glanced around at their surroundings before finally coming back around to meet the dragon master's hungry gaze. "Then would you mind telling me just what we're doing in here?"


	34. Chapter 34 Diamonds and Gold

****

Chapter 34

Disclaimed.

………..

Monday morning found Seto making vain attempts at organization while constantly being buffeted by yellow and black fuzz balls. He looked to Serenity for moral support , only to catch her giggling behind her hand.

He had sent his delicate electronic equipment on ahead yesterday, along with the foursome's luggage. Tristan and Jou were taking their bikes, and Serenity and Mokuba would be riding with them. Yugi, Tea, and Bakura would be riding with Seto in the Mercedes, while Pegasus and Croquet would be meeting them at the beach house. Seto was not looking forward to that particular drive; he dreaded being confined with Yugi and Tea, certain that Tea would not shut up long enough for him to take an entire breath. The simple fact that Yugi had beaten him at his own game, not to mention that he owed the tri-color haired King of Games far more debts than he could ever repay grated on his nerves. Bakura was by far the least of the evils; he was usually quiet, but Seto still hadn't completely gotten over his and Tristan's vodka stunt on the day Jou had moved in. Thankfully, the beach house was only about an hour's drive from Domino.

On the way to Shell Beach, Yugi made a few polite attempts at conversation with Seto from the back seat of the red convertible before figuring out that the CEO was in no mood to talk. Undaunted, Yugi settled for Tea's comfortable companionship instead, which suited all involved just fine.

Bakura sat in front with Seto, perfectly content to remain unfettered by meaningless drabble. He had plans of his own for these clueless fools. The dark spirit of the Ring was determined to make an addition to his collection of Millennium items on this trip, and it hardly mattered to him whether or not the others got hurt or killed while he went after Yami. Although he was disgusted with himself for his botched attempt on Pegasus' life, he was in possession of the Millennium Eye, and Pegasus had apparently forgotten everything about the near-fatal duel that had put him out of commission for a year.

…………

The beach house was a two-story, five bedroom Victorian with a wraparound porch and an attached three car garage; in other words, very close quarters for the crew Seto and Jou had invited along.

The large family room had a sunken conversation pit, a stone fireplace, and a bar. The kitchen had an island and a bay window with built-in seating for use as a breakfast nook. The main floor also included a formal dining room, living room, library, foyer, bathroom, and utility room.

Upstairs, four smaller bedrooms shared two bathrooms. There was a deck off the hallway on the front side of the house. The master suite had its own private balcony overlooking the ocean, along with a fireplace, dressing room, and a bathroom equipped with a large, oval-shaped whirlpool bathtub.

Seto pulled into the driveway as he and Bakura turned to look at the silent backseat passengers. Tea's head was propped up by the window, and Yugi's rested in her lap; both of them were sound asleep.

Bakura found the extreme saccharine cuteness of the two nauseating, but forced himself not to gag. After all, he calmly reminded himself, he was supposed to be impersonating his weakling host. Therefore, he giggled and dug around in his bag for a disposable camera, snapping a picture quickly before the opportunity passed.

"Huh…what?" Yugi yawned, disorientated.

"I think we're at the beach house." Tea told him as she glanced around drowsily, rubbing her eyes gently.

"Yes, we are, " Seto confirmed. "The question is, where are the biker wannabes?"

"You don't think they got lost, do you?" Tea replied worriedly.

"No. The mutt's got instincts." Seto shook his head. "He'll find his way home."

Yugi snickered. "I think you just unintentionally gave Joey a compliment, Kaiba."

"Unintentionally?" Seto raised an eyebrow as he got out of his Mercedes.

…………

While Seto was trying vainly to keep the chaos in his home to a bare minimum, Croquet was having difficulties with his own chaotic semblance of a life. The bodyguard stood in the centre of a luxurious hotel suite in Tokyo, listening calmly to the irrational ravings of the silver-haired madman by whom he was employed.

"But, Christopher!" Pegasus pouted, having run out of both arguments and energy.

"You should have brought a moving van instead of that fancy little Jaguar, Sir. _Some _things _do _obey the laws of physics. There is absolutely no way to get all of this…this _stuff_,"

he waved his hand at the nearly filled -to-capacity room, " into the car." Removing his shades and slipping them into his breast pocket, Chris rubbed his eyes and sighed wearily. "Of course, Sir, the fault was entirely mine. I should never have sent Kemo shopping with you."

"But you're no fun to go shopping with!" Pegasus complained. " You never let me buy anything."

Croquet nodded, his hand dropping back down to his side. "Exactly 

"Hmph." Pegasus put his hands on his hips. "Well, this certainly puts a damper on things." He sighed as well, looking around the room. "Kemo will just have to send what we can't take with us back to Duelist Kingdom, I suppose."

Croquet sighed in relief. For once, it seemed that his master had decided to listen to the voice of reason which he embodied.

"Of course, there would be more room if I sent _you _back to Duelist Kingdom…" Pegasus pondered aloud, and his eyes settled on Croquet just long enough to catch his bodyguard's look of sheer horror. For Christopher Croquet, the only thing worse than being with Pegasus 24/7 was _not _being with him 24/7, and neither man could understand how this state of affairs had failed to drive him completely insane over the years.

Pegasus chuckled despite himself. "Oh, Chris. Don't give me that look."

"Look, Sir? What look?" Croquet blinked, trying to appear innocent.

"That look you just gave me, as though I were about to abandon you to a pack of starving wolves." The silver-haired man smiled softly at his longtime companion. "Whatever would I do without you?" he asked in all sincerity.

"With any luck, Max, you will never have to find out." Croquet replied, equally sincere.

"I should certainly think not," Pegasus stated with finality, casually closing the distance between himself and his personal bodyguard.

At the precise instant that Max leaned in to kiss his protector, however, Kemo decided to make an unannounced and completely inopportune entrance into the suite. "Master Pegasus, the car is ready and waiting. What needs to be loaded into it?"

Covering his surprise well, Pegasus deftly plucked Croquet's sunglasses from the breast pocket of his suit and handed them to the equally stunned man before him. "Croquet, you nearly forgot these," he admonished. "What are you waiting for? We're going to be late, and I doubt Kaiba is any more tolerant of tardiness than he is of anything else, especially on our part."

Croquet snapped the sunglasses on with a nod as he turned to Kemo. "Never enter Master Pegasus' chambers without knocking first!" he growled at his subordinate.

"Sorry, sir. Forgive me, Master Pegasus." Kemo bowed apologetically as he backed out of the suite, inwardly wondering just who those two thought they were fooling.

………..

The four teenagers who had arrived at the beach house in Seto's Mercedes had just finished unloading the luggage onto the front porch when two motorcycles roared up the driveway.

Mokuba leaped from Jou's bike as soon as it came to a full stop, dashing over to his big brother. "This is going to be so great! We went to the little marina town, Seto, and there's this awesome surf shop where you can sign up for lessons. I wanted to, but Joey said I had to ask you. Oh please, big brother, I want to learn to ride the waves. My birthday is only a couple of weeks away, and surfing lessons would be the best present ever! Please, Seto, please…"

Mokuba had to stop because he'd finally run out of breath, and Seto's eyes were growing wider by the second as he contemplated the horrors of the deep, which included drowning and accidents involving head injuries, paralysis, and shark bites.

"Oh my," Bakura whispered to Tristan, doing his best imitation of Ryou. "Kaiba doesn't look too happy about this."

Jou hung back, not wanting to get between the two brothers. He really wanted to learn to surf as well, but if Seto wouldn't let his little brother sign up, Jou wouldn't either. It simply wouldn't be fair to Mokuba.

Whatever response Seto had prepared for his younger sibling died in his throat as a sleek, white Jaguar pulled into the drive behind the motorcycles. "We'll discuss it later, Mokuba," he said, striding confidently over to the brilliantly-polished vehicle under his brother's frustrated glare as Croquet got out and walked around the car to open the passenger-side door for Pegasus.

"Really, Chris, I am capable of doing some things for myself," his employer said in a low, exasperated tone, obviously meant only for the bodyguard's ears.

Croquet grunted doubtfully as he went to retrieve their luggage, unloading an amazing amount of cargo from the compact vehicle. Seto rolled his eyes at the wanton display of Pegasus' possessions, and everyone else trotted over to help.

Pegasus smiled at the young CEO, ignoring the rest of the assembled company. "Did you happen to bring along any of those marvelous Duel Disk systems from your Battle City tournament, Kaiba?"

"Yes." Seto grudgingly admitted.

"Excellent. After all, we have the four best duelists in the world gathered together here. It would be a shame to waste such a potentially entertaining opportunity," Pegasus replied.

Jou looked around, puzzled once again. _ Four best duelists in the world? Pegasus and Seto, obviously. Yami and Yugi-do they count as one or two? They share the title King of Games, but most of the dueling world doesn't know about Yami. So, who's the fourth duelist, then?_

Pegasus chuckled, reading Joseph's mind without Millennium Items or psychic ability. As usual, his son's thoughts were written plainly on his face. The chocolate-eyed inventor walked over to the blond, squeezing his shoulder as he whispered into his ear. "You, Joseph. You're number four."

………..

Once they had made it inside the house, Seto got everyone's attention in order to get the sleeping arrangements settled. "There are five bedrooms upstairs; therefore, everyone will be doubling. Obviously, the master suite belongs to Jou and I. Serenity and Tea will also share a room." Seto looked pointedly at Tristan, as though daring him to object. "As for the rest of you, you can pick your own roommates."

His agenda completed for the time being, the brunet left them to their own devices and headed for the small, improvised lab he had set up in the library. The others began to explore their vacation home, eventually taking their luggage up to the second floor.

The front entrance of the house faced east, the back of it facing the ocean. The master suite occupied the entire southern end of the second floor. Pegasus chose the northeastern room for himself and Croquet. The largest of the four remaining bedrooms, it was decorated in creams and browns, including a bay window which would be perfect for watching the sunrise.

The girls took the northwestern room, which shared a bathroom with Pegasus' suite. Tristan and Bakura took the room on the other side of Serenity and Tea's, which shared another bathroom with the remaining room, by default Yugi's and Mokuba's.

Jou hung out in the master suite as his friends and family popped in to check the fancy room out. He laughed and chatted with them, but behind his bright facade he was actually a little depressed. Jou knew that he had to give Seto his space or risk losing his lover, but they had only just arrived and already his boyfriend was locked away in the small library, tinkering with God only knew what.

Croquet told Pegasus that he wanted to take a walk, but his master wasn't fooled by the seemingly recreational activity. What Croquet really wanted to do was a perimeter check, to find out what kind of security system was in operation around the beach house and to make himself aware of any weaknesses in said defence.

Pegasus used the opportunity to visit Kaiba. He was cautiously elated about the prospect of being able to reclaim his wife, yet he was also finally ready to accept that he had to let her go. He had spent far too many years wallowing in pain and grief while his life spun out of control, eventually becoming entangled in endless webs of deceit. Yes, he had Christopher, but had never been totally committed to the relationship, and he was grateful that Chris had always accepted that gracefully. Though they had been together over a decade, Max had always been haunted by the memory of his bride, a spectre with which Christopher Croquet could never hope to compete.

The one-eyed man knocked on the library door in what he hoped was an unobtrusive manner. "Kaiba, may I come in?"

"The door isn't locked," Kaiba answered gruffly.

"It wouldn't be polite to simply barge in, Kaiba-boy." The creator of Duel Monsters sat down across from his son's boyfriend, crossing his left leg over his right. "I sincerely hope you do not intend to stay squirreled away in here for our entire vacation. Joseph is most upset already." Pegasus paused, waiting for a response that didn't come. Kaiba's fingers continued to fly over the keyboard, a part of his brain functioning on a level where strange electronic gibberish was his native language.

"I will admit that I'm curious; how is the program progressing?" Pegasus continued, undaunted. "You really should give Joseph some explanation. He needs to understand why you are more wrapped up in your work than you are in him."

"No." Seto told him gravely, his fingers slowing almost imperceptibly.

Pegasus frowned, "Seto, save your work, turn off your computer and pay attention to me."

Seto huffed, but obeyed reluctantly. The sooner Pegasus had his say, the sooner he could get back to work.

He met the surprisingly familiar tawny gold-brown eye that seemed totally out of place in the older man's face. _Jou's eyes, _he realized, _Jou got those incredible, mouth-watering chocolate eyes from his old man. _No sooner had this thought occurred to him than he noticed Pegasus had gone sheet white and, in fact, looked remarkably like a withered old man.

Pegasus had picked up on Seto's sudden focus on his one remaining eye. The clarity of it caused him to become dizzy, and the room faded out before him. As though that weren't enough, his limited and unpredictable psychic abilities decided to kick in at the same time, and suddenly he was stumbling through a desert ghost town, blood and sand clinging to the side of his face and matting his hair. The memories of Shadi, another Egyptian with a dagger, a swift slash, and a physical and mental pain more intense than any he'd ever endured before or since were the first sensations he had felt as Shadi himself thrust the mixed blessing of the Millennium Eye upon him, feelings that reverberated through all the years he had been possessed by the cursed artifact.

Maximillion Pegasus was no stranger to this now-familiar flashback, yet this time around he was vaguely aware of a woman watching the entire process from the shadows. _Anya? _Had she really been there? A sickening truth he'd spent half his life denying suddenly surfaced as his memory block dissolved.

By means of a different magic, Croquet appeared, open suit jacket and unclipped tie flying out behind him as he charged into the room. "Sir? Max!"

The bodyguard clapped his hands together sharply, drawing Pegasus back to the present, and Max hurriedly covered his protector's rough, calloused hands with his own to prevent Chris from repeating the action. He had entered these fugue states often enough over the years to realize that the sharp noise, while effective in bringing him back to reality, was also a harsh blow to his already throbbing head. He tried to focus on the clear gray eyes, unusually unprotected, but wound up leaning his forehead into Croquet's broad shoulder instead, too weak to even contemplate much else.

"I'd like to sit on the deck and watch the ocean for awhile. Perhaps you would bring me a glass of wine, Christopher?" Pegasus said after a moment, and the total lack of energy in his voice shocked Seto greatly and worried Christopher even more.

"Of course, Sir." Croquet replied softly, rising to his feet and offering the silver-haired man to whom he had dedicated his life his hand.

Pegasus, however, had regained enough of his composure to exit the room unaided, Croquet following even more closely than usual behind him. Both men acted as though Seto had suddenly become invisible, which was fine with the stunned billionaire. He would have had a hard time maintaining his usual arrogant, cocky, know-it-all attitude after that display.

__

What the heck just happened? Seto demanded of himself before deciding that he really needed to spend some time with Jou. _Enough of this weird crap for one day._

………….

The teens had changed into swimming gear and were outside enjoying the midday sun when Seto arrived. Pegasus had settled into a lounger on the deck, his eternal companion conspicuously absent. He was still wearing his frilly red Victorian suit, and the garment emphasized just how pale he really was.

Jou sat on the floor by his father's feet, wearing red and black Hawaiian print swim trunks with his standard white T-shirt. They were enjoying each other's company while they watched Tristan and Bakura set up the volleyball net they had found in the garage.

Seto had passed Croquet as he walked through the kitchen. The salt and pepper haired man had seemed oddly at home there. For a long while, the brunet simply watched the others from the doorway in silence, remaining unobserved himself.

Having finished with the volleyball net, Tristan began to tease Serenity, threatening to untie her halter-top swimsuit and chasing her into the water when she tried to escape him, both of them laughing hysterically the whole time. It wasn't long before Joey was on the scene, running across the sand, tackling Tristan, and driving them both under the surf.

"I give! I give! Hey, man, I didn't mean it!" Tristan hollered, holding his hands up in surrender as he tried to laugh and choke on saltwater simultaneously.

Joey allowed his friend to sit up, pounding the taller boy on the back. Quick as a wink, though, Tristan had Jou in a vicious headlock, and the blond's protests could be heard all the way back on deck.

Seto sighed as he sat down in the chair next to that of his archenemy. "This could continue for the rest of the day."

Pegasus smiled indulgently. "He's only defending his sister's honor."

Seto shook his head. "No. He's been waiting for a chance to get into a brawl with Tristan all day."

"At least he found someone who would play with him," Pegasus replied.

Before Seto had the chance to become too irate and put his nemesis back in his place, Jou came back to the deck, soaking wet and grinning from ear to ear. He wasn't even breathing heavily, Seto noticed; Tristan, on the other hand, was standing knee deep in water, still trying to catch his breath.

Jou stripped off his waterlogged T-shirt and sat down by Seto, wringing the shirt out between his knees and watching the water run over the wooden boards. "He deserved that. Did you know Tristan got Mokuba started on the whole surfing thing, and then sided with him when I wouldn't let Kuba sign up for lessons without asking you? You'd think Tris wanted me to get turned into dog meat or something."

Seto chuckled. He couldn't help it; his puppy was just too adorable. Pegasus was surprised into silence, having never heard Seto genuinely laugh before. Oblivious to their audience, the older teen reached out and lovingly traced the dragon tattoo on Jou's upper arm. He'd forgotten Pegasus was there watching them, just as Pegasus and Croquet had ignored his presence earlier. In fact, he'd forgotten the rest of the world entirely. All that existed was his beautiful puppy, the midday warmth of the sun on his slightly pale skin, and the soft, rhythmic sound of the ocean lapping the shore.

Unfortunately for Seto, Croquet stepped out onto the deck a few moments later. With a gesture, Seto told Jou to follow him, and they went into the house together.

Pegasus looked up at Croquet and smirked. In his short-sleeved shirt and a chef's apron, Chris should have looked like a macho bodybuilder who was cluelessly attempting to play housewife. He didn't, however. Croquet was very much at home in the kitchen, being something of an amateur gourmet.

"Are you feeling better, Max?" the bodyguard asked quietly.

"Yes, Christopher. In fact, I think I'd like to go into town this afternoon and see about procuring some painting supplies."

Inwardly, Croquet groaned. _Anything but more shopping… _"Certainly, Sir, but…"

"What is it, Chris?" Pegasus asked. He had known from the beginning that his head of security would resist his afternoon agenda.

"Do you think you could refrain from painting pink rabbits?" Croquet asked in all sincerity.

Pegasus attempted to mimic his friend's characteristic gravity, but a mischievous glint in his eye gave him away. "Chris, did you know that Joseph recently acquired a tattoo? I'm tempted to get one of my beloved Funny Bunny. What do you think?"

Croquet groaned aloud then, throwing his hands up in complete and utter surrender to his master's insanity. "Lunch is served!" he announced loudly, leading his master back into the house before they could both be trampled by the stampede of starving teenagers that was now converging on the beach house with utmost alacrity.

……….

Tristan made it to the table first, but managed to wait politely while the others were seated. "Hey, where's Joey?"

"With Seto?" Mokuba suggested. It _was_ pretty obvious since they were both missing.

The brunet sighed as he rose from the table, took the stairs two at a time, and pounded on the master bedroom door. "Hey, you two hentai! There's food on the table, and some of us want to eat!"

Jou came to the door in a pair of white cotton lounge pants, and his glare was only a few degrees warmer than what his boyfriend's would have been. "Tris, you have an amazing sense of bad timing."

"Croquet fixed lunch-chicken, corn on the cob, fresh watermelon, and chocolate cake," Tristan all but whispered, tempting his buddy with the menu.

Jou tried not to drool. "Seto, I'll meet you downstairs," he called, grabbing a black tank top and pulling it on as he followed Tristan downstairs. As they approached the dining room, he began sniffing the air. "Chocolate Amaretto."

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, does this nose lie?"

"Hasn't yet," Tristan grinned.

"Wow! Why isn't anybody eating?" Jou asked as he entered, eyeing the spread of food on the dining room table.

"Because some of us have manners." Tea chided.

"Do you think maybe we should let Jou have the other side of the table to himself?" Bakura wondered aloud.

"Hmm…that may not be a bad idea." Seto said as he strode into the dining room, wearing white, obviously tailored shorts under a black turtleneck. "The dog _has _been known to bite."

That seemingly innocent comment answered the unspoken question of why Seto had chosen to wear a turtleneck in 90-degree weather, and a few muffled snickers went around the table.

"Hey!" Jou cried indignantly, and his father cleared his throat before the situation could become any more awkward.

"Joseph, please come sit by me." Pegasus offered.

Jou gratefully accepted the seat at Pegasus' right, sticking his tongue out at Seto as Croquet seated himself at his master's left. Seto barely restrained his urge to comment on the fact that Pegasus seemed to have acquired a new lap dog, contenting himself with a silent scowl instead.

After they had eaten, Serenity rose and dutifully began to clear the table. Croquet, out of habit, got up to help her, but she sat him back down with one hand on his shoulder.

"No, Mr. Croquet. You made the meal; the rest of us can clean up," she protested.

Croquet sat down reluctantly. He wasn't used to being waited on, especially by his master's soon-to-be adopted daughter. Pegasus, for his part, silently applauded Serenity's effort. He had attempted, without much success, to convince Croquet that this was his vacation as well, and that he was therefore not duty-bound to do anything but relax. Of course, for all the good it did, Max may as well have tried to order the ocean away from the beach. When he was certain everyone's attention was elsewhere, he gave Croquet a reassuring smile, reaching under the table to pat his bodyguard's knee.

Tea joined Serenity, who added in her brother's direction, "It wouldn't hurt you to help too, Joey."

"We'll all help." Yugi said cheerfully, taking the sting from Serenity's good-natured chiding.

……….

Later that afternoon, Pegasus announced his intentions to go into the little marina town to shop for painting supplies, inviting anyone who wanted to to come along. His hope was that Joseph would want to do some painting with him, since it was an interest they both shared. Also, perhaps his son would provide a buffer between he and his long-time anti-shopping companion, thus forcing Croquet to surrendering to his boss' whims under the dual pressure of said boss and his precocious progeny.

Mokuba looked longingly at Seto, "Please, big brother, will you come check out the surfing shop with me?"

"It sounds like fun. Maybe we should all go?" Tea suggested.

"I should have brought a bus," Seto grumbled as the others agreed with Tea that exploring Shell Beach may indeed turn out to be a fun way of spending an afternoon.

With the exception of Seto himself, the group made an exodus to the upper story of the house in search of more appropriate clothing. Seto headed to the library instead, hoping to get in a few private moments with his computer.

He was surprised when he looked up to find Jou watching him, looking positively delicious in tight blue denim shorts and a dark green silk shirt. Of course, Seto tended to think Jou looked wonderful in everything, including nothing at all.

"We're ready to leave," the blonde informed him. "Are you okay, Seto? You seem preoccupied."

"I am, but don't take it personally, Jou. The program I'm working on is extremely complex." He was well aware that his explanation was far from satisfactory, and the look in his dragon-pup's eyes only served to reinforce that knowledge.

"This is _supposed _to be a vacation, Seto." Jou reminded him. "For all of us, and that includes you and Croquet."

Seto reached up to touch Joey's face with his long, graceful fingers. "It is of paramount importance, Jou, that this program is successful, because _you _are important. Please, be patient with me."

He brushed Joey's lips with his fingers, and Jou first kissed, then sucked each of them, all the while keeping his chocolate eyes locked with his lover's sapphire orbs.

"Good grief, you guys! Can't you be left alone for two minutes without making out?" an exasperated voice came from the doorway.

Joey groaned, "Tristan, your timing sucks!"

"Are you guys coming or not?" Tristan demanded. "Everyone else is outside, and we're getting sick of waiting for you two every time we want to do something."

"Yes," Seto answered, but his eyes were still focused only on Jou.

Tristan hesitated for just a second before going back outside. He'd never imagined that anyone could say so much with only his eyes, and he felt like a voyeur for observing that phenomenon firsthand. _If they don't show up in a minute, _the brunet decided, _I'll just take Serenity on my bike. Everyone else can ride in the Jag. _He was not going back in there, and he wasn't going to let anyone else go in after them either.

Tristan felt his face get warm as he recalled the look in Seto's eyes, that unconcealed, white-hot intensity that went so far beyond mere lust or love that it had no name. He was about to tell the others that Seto and Jou weren't coming when they walked out the door behind him, and only Tristan noticed that the cold, unfeeling mask that so often served as Seto's face was back in place. However, Tristan would never again see his buddy's boyfriend as a power-driven, heartless jerk. Seto Kaiba was a man on fire, a fire named Jou.


	35. Chapter 35 Inside the Artist's Insanity

****

Chapter 35

__

A/N: I still don't own anything except my inane attempt to twist YGO to my own purposes.

I've had several people ask if I was going to include the Ishtars in this fic. The answer is, sadly, no. I had a few ideas to do so, but they just didn't really work with the rest of the story.

……..

Seto Kaiba was not the only one of the small group who felt the need to hide behind masks. Bakura did the same, except that his was one of innocence and compassion behind which snarled a vicious coyote. Pegasus, for his part, wore one of elegantly composed calm, a precisely enacted charade that held him together perfectly on the outside. On the inside, however, his world was spinning apart with the force of a hurricane.

To say the silver-haired inventor was uncomfortable would be putting his present feelings rather mildly. He sat in the passenger seat of the Jaguar beside Croquet, who waited just as patiently as always behind the wheel. Tristan, Serenity, and Bakura were in the backseat, and Yugi, Tea, and Mokuba were going to ride with Kaiba and Joseph.

Pegasus could feel Bakura staring intently at the back of his head the entire time. He knew there was something extremely wrong with the boy; Bakura's aura carried a scent that was the psychic equivalent of spoiled milk. To cover his agitation, the elder of the white-haired men fussed with the lapels of the white linen suit he was now wearing. Perhaps he was still overdressed for the occasion, but he derived comfort from his at times overwhelming elegance. _What is keeping Joseph and Kaiba?_

"I'm going after them." Tristan announced, as though he had read Pegasus' thoughts, and headed to the house.

Less than five minutes later, he reappeared, looking mildly embarrassed as he stopped at Croquet's window. Before he could speak, however, Joseph and Seto followed him out of the house, and Tristan got back into the Jag without a word.

On the way to Shell Beach, Pegasus began to feel ill again, and wondered if this little jaunt was such a good idea as the revelation he'd had in Seto's library came back to haunt him. Was it possible that the same people who had given him the Millennium Eye had also taken Cecelia's life? It made no sense…

Shadi, his friend, his confidant, who had shown him bits and pieces of an Egypt so ancient its history was lost to time. Events set in motion as part of a plan more elaborate than even Pegasus could conceive, by a man who never aged. Why? What did Shadi have to gain by this? What was the blue-eyed Egyptian after?

One part of the riddle made perfect sense, that which explained how Cecelia's soul ended up in the Shadow Realm. All these years, she had been so close. She was an innocent prisoner detained in a dark dimension populated by monsters with terrible powers as a part of some diabolical and unfathomable scheme. Pegasus was certain she had been victimized because of _him_; her death was his fault. He had somehow always believed it without knowing why; it was part of the reason he had never been able to let her go and move on with his life, even with Christopher at his side. Now that he was finally ready to let go of it, the mysteries of the past were being revealed, renewing his torment in the process. Shadi wanted to use him, but to what end?

With more questions than answers, Max knew it was imperative that he reclaim Cecelia's soul... or lose his own trying.

……..

Meanwhile, Jou was attempting vainly to keep his raging hormones under control. The sight of his dragon master's long, lean legs kept him from carrying on any kind of coherent conversation with the other passengers in the car, although he was aware somewhere in the back of his lust-hazed mind that he was being given a bunch of flack from said passengers.

"Big brother, are you going to let the puppy drool all over you?" Mokuba demanded teasingly.

Yugi and Tea giggled. Seto looked at Jou, immediately wishing he hadn't. The expression on Jou's face made him long to be alone with the dragon-pup at the beach house, or anywhere at all for that matter. Instead, they were trapped in a car with the mutt's friends watching their every move. Life was indeed harsh.

"Jou, there are children present," he reminded the blond, hoping that would snap him out of his lustful fugue.

"Hey, we're not children!" Yugi exclaimed on his and Tea's behalf, and the azure-eyed dancer supported him with an indignant glare.

"I'm not exactly a baby either!" Mokuba huffed.

"Really?" Seto commented in a low, borderline sultry voice. Without taking his eyes from the road for a moment, he grabbed Jou by the shirt collar and pulled him over none too gently for a quick yet extremely passionate kiss.

"Oh my gods…" Tea whispered as her face turned the same shade of red as her too-short sundress.

"Any more questions?" Seto asked calmly as he allowed his golden lover to drop back into his seat, slightly dazed.

"No." Mokuba squeaked.

Yugi tried valiantly not to degenerate into a fit of hysterics until Jou turned and winked at him. Seto, still as unreadable to everyone but Jou as ever, was more than a little pleased with himself. _Maybe there is something to having friends after all._

As they pulled into Shell Beach, they saw a stretch of houses that had been converted into shops painted in cotton candy hues. Neat signs were visible in the yards, hawking various handcrafts from pottery to quilts to paintings and homemade wine.

Unfortunately, Seto parked directly in front of the winery, and Croquet was too busy trying to resist the temptation to run the brunet billionaire over with his car to realize this problem until it was too late to turn back. His master had already spotted the sign, and was nearly giddy with anticipation in the passenger seat.

"Sir, we brought a case of wine over from Duelist Kingdom," Croquet reminded his boss through gritted teeth. "Until now, you maintained that that would be sufficient."

"But certainly it would do no harm to see what the locals have to offer? Hmm…?" Pegasus purred, reaching over to lay his hand over Chris', stroking it ever so subtly as his protector slid the gearshift into 'park'.

Croquet knew defeat when he faced it. He was also aware that Pegasus had not been himself since their arrival at the beach house, and the positive effects that shopping usually had on the man. "As you wish, Sir," he acquiesced as he undid his own seat belt and slipped from the vehicle, joining the growing group between the two cars. Pegasus followed, grinning as though he had just been made aware that Funny Bunny had just been given his own television network.

"How about we split up and meet at the art supply store in an hour?" Yugi suggested. "After we get done there, we can check out the surf shop.'

"Yeah!" Mokuba agreed enthusiastically.

Fifty-five minutes and twenty seconds later, by Seto's perfectly calibrated watch, the group assembled at the art supply store. Most of them wandered around aimlessly, chatting idly while Pegasus picked out canvas, paints, and brushes. He made suggestions to Joey as he went, promptly snatching all of his son's selections and adding them to his own ever-growing pile of purchases. Before long, Bakura, Yugi, Tea, and Serenity were also asking Pegasus' advice on art supplies, and the silver-haired Duel Monsters inventor quickly forgot his woes as he began to educate all-too-eager students in the basics of art as he understood them. Since they seemed so interested, he even went so far as to suggest that, for an hour or so each day, they might get together for a sort of artist's communal. Everyone but Seto agreed enthusiastically, and Pegasus was so delighted that he added all of their supplies to his own as well.

Croquet took one glance at the mountains of art supplies and sighed. He hated to be the one to put a damper on Pegasus' high spirits; this was _his _Max, after all, the sprite who chased butterflies and wanted to grow up to _be _Funny Bunny or, preferably, never grow up at all. But, then again, somebody had to do the dirty work, and that was what Pegasus paid him for; to fill the role of the reality principle that was seriously lacking in his master's psyche.

"Sir?" he ventured at length.

"What is it, Croquet?" Pegasus asked in mild irritation, turning from his new disciples to pay attention to his guardian.

"We didn't bring a moving van…" Croquet reminded him as gently as possible.

Pegasus frowned, yet once again the laws of physics didn't seem to be factoring into his thought processes. "Ah well, you'll figure it out, Chris. Please pay the man."

Croquet sighed in his long-suffering way as he handed the overjoyed shopkeeper Pegasus' credit card while the teens started gathering up the bundles and bags. It took several minutes and enough cursing from Seto and Chris to make even Jou blush slightly to load the two cars that had definitely not been designed to haul such cargo. _I should have known better than to take him to the art supply store,_ Chris told himself over and over again as he lashed the Jag's trunk closed, after a fashion, with a conveniently-placed length of rope he had found in said trunk. _I should have known better than to take him to _**any **_store._

Even as he vowed never to repeat this gross error, though, Christopher Croquet knew that he would never be able to deny his master anything that did not have to potential to result in grievous bodily harm to said man. Even that was debatable; after all, if Pegasus decided that he wanted to learn to surf, Chris wasn't completely sure he'd have the heart to squelch the childlike man's desires. _He's just too damn adorable for his own good... or mine, for that matter._

……..

Eventually, they made it to the marina's Surf and Sand shop. Tea, Bakura, Tristan, and Yugi had already come to the conclusion that surfing lessons sounded fun, so they went to sign up right away. Serenity was a little nervous, yet still determined as she asked Pegasus' permission to take surfing lessons as well. The captivating silver-haired man tilted his head toward the petite girl as he smiled and nodded, and she stood on tiptoe in order to wrap her arms around his neck and plant a grateful kiss on his cheek. Jou grinned from ear to ear at the flustered expression on his father's face as Serenity went to join the rest of their friends; Pegasus, for his part, smoothed out his hair.

Meanwhile, Seto was interrogating the store manager in his most intimidating style while Mokuba did an unconscious imitation of the elder Kaiba, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring mercilessly at his brother's back. The manager had been reasonably patient when the inquisition had begun, but was becoming noticeably irritated when Jou decided that it was time to defuse the situation.

"Seto, could I talk to you alone for a minute?" He asked.

The brunet scowled, but let Jou pull him behind a display of surfboards for privacy just the same. "Jou, don't start with me. Don't tell me I should let Mokuba learn to surf because the rest of the herd is!"

"I wasn't going to say that." Joey stood very close to him, not quite touching the tall brunet while still allowing his breath to caress Seto's ear. "It's up to you to give Mokuba permission to do this. However, _I _really want to learn to surf and I'd love it if you would join us. I mean, it'll be fun, and you could keep a close eye on your brother…"

Jou's lips brushed Seto's ear as he finished, and at that moment Seto would have given Mokuba permission to jump out of an airplane without a parachute. He grabbed Joey by the hips, ramming them into his own and holding the blond there for just a moment in order to enjoy the feel of him before releasing him.

"What am I going to do with you?" the billionaire complained as his lover walked around the display.

"Whatever you want." Jou smirked as he winked at Mokuba and went to sign up for his lessons.

"Come on. Let's do this." Seto grabbed Mokuba by the shoulder, dragging him along after Joey.

"Seto, you're the best big brother in the world. Thank you!" Mokuba was so excited he could barely contain himself.

"He is not," Serenity protested, leaving her place in the line to join her big brother at the back.

"Is too," Mokuba shot back in his brother's defense.

"Is not. My big brother is the best," the brunette said with finality, sticking her tongue out playfully at the younger Kaiba as she laced her fingers through Joey's.

Mokuba looked from Serenity to Seto before his eyes finally settled on Joey. Maybe Serenity had a point; Joey **did **have a way of getting Seto to do things Mokuba never would have dreamed Seto would even consider, highest on the list taking a lover of his own gender.

"They're both the best big brothers in the world," Mokuba offered.

"I can live with that," Serenity agreed, giving Mokuba a high five. Though she still hadn't made up her mind about Seto himself, he had certainly raised one terrific kid brother.

Seto raised one eyebrow. He had been shoved to the side on the pedestal he had never shared in Mokuba's eyes by this stray off the streets, the blonde boy everyone loved to torment and tease, a nobody who, like King Arthur, had been raised as a commoner but was in reality a prince. Amazingly, however, Seto found that he was more than happy to make room on that pedestal for his beloved, pedigreed mutt.

__

I am so whipped, he told himself as the line moved forward, and Mokuba dragged him a few steps closer to the sign-up booth.

……..

Before long, they had made arrangements to come back to the marina the following afternoon to start their lessons, and Jou had suggested they have supper at the local sushi bar before returning to the beach house to unload their purchases. Too exhausted to do much else after that, they ended up in the family room, where Pegasus insisted on setting up the various local wines for sampling.

"No, Mokuba, you are not having any," Seto stated flat out before his brother could even think of asking.

"But, Set-" Mokuba started to plead.

Pegasus sensed the oncoming disaster, stepping into its path before Mokuba could tell the elder Kaiba about his prior wine-drinking adventure with his brother's enemy. "Oh, come now, Kaiba-boy, a small sip will hardly hurt him. He probably won't even like it. It wasn't until I was…how old are you, Mokuba?"

"Almost fourteen." Mokuba answered readily.

"Um…well, perhaps you should listen to your brother, young Master Kaiba." Pegasus concluded hastily, having backed himself into a corner. He had also noted the surprise on some of the teens' faces that he had had the audacity to contradict Seto, and as though that weren't bad enough, Seto himself was sporting a rather hateful glare.

Sulking, Mokuba crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.

"Hey, Mokuba, why don't we go and see if there's any cake left?" Serenity suggested quickly, and the boy brightened visibly as she took his hand and led him from the room.

"You started drinking wine when you were thirteen?" Joey asked in surprise once they had gone.

"Hmph." Croquet grunted before his master could reply.

"I believe my son was addressing me, not you, Croquet." Pegasus warned as he lined up shot glasses to hold the samples.

Croquet was quite used to playing straight man to Max's antics. Quiet and serious by nature, he usually preferred to keep a low profile until he was needed. On very rare occasions, though, the contagion that was Pegasus infected even him.

"Master Joseph, your father started sneaking into the wine cellar when he was but a lad of eleven years." Croquet looked directly at Jou the entire time he spoke, his tone more appropriate to delivering news of a tragedy than general information. He did not need to watch Pegasus to how his boss would react.

The room went totally silent as Pegasus' face flushed crimson. His stern and trusty bodyguard was making him sound like an alcoholic lush. Slowly, he set down the wine bottle he had been holding. "Croquet…"

"Sir?" replied his servant innocently.

"Perhaps I have become soft, or been remiss in detailing my requirements of my security personnel. Whatever the cause, I had thought you were quite clear on the subject of divulging personal information about me."

"I don't recall ever being given a direct order on the matter, Sir." Croquet feigned confusion and tensed, as ready for action as always.

"Hmm…" Pegasus selected a glass of wine, sipped at it delicately, and then, without warning, lunged at Croquet. Or, more appropriately, the place where Croquet had been.

__

When you dedicate your life to someone as unpredictable as Pegasus, you have to be able to anticipate anything, Croquet thought to himself smugly as his master stumbled over the place where he had been. As he began to fall, Croquet caught him easily, wrapping one strong arm around his midsection.

"You were saying, Master Pegasus?" he asked, his expression utterly devoid of humor, and the silver-haired man glowered over his shoulder as he pushed the sinewy limb away from his upper body.

"Never mind, Croquet. Just have a drink. And yes, it's an order," Pegasus grumbled, shoving a shot-glass in his bodyguard's face.

Croquet's triumphant amusement showed only in his eyes, and only Seto and Bakura failed to find the entire incident amusing in the slightest.

……..

For some time after that, Pegasus was at the height of his glory, telling tall tales of his childhood and delighting in the rapt attention of the teenagers while his protector was content to fade into the background and watch the show. Listening to Max tell a subtly altered version of his youth sent Chris' mind wandering into the past as well.

For six years after Cecelia's death, Croquet had watched his master descend into madness as the Millennium Eye laid claim to his mind. Pegasus had funded numerous research expeditions into Egypt and China during those years, seeking out the best archeologists, historians, and linguists in the world. He had delved ever deeper into ancient mythology and magic, and every so often Shadi had shown up unexpectedly, sending Max catapulting off in a different direction or down into another lost tomb. Pegasus had spent untold hours cloistered in the strange blue-eyed Egyptian's company while Christopher Croquet waited in his chambers, slowly going insane with worry.

Croquet had always seen Shadi as a threatening rival, as if the man had some power over Maximillion from which his bodyguard was unable to protect him. Even in the heat of the desert, Croquet always felt chilled when Shadi was around. Oddly, the Egyptian's presence invariably turned Croquet's thoughts to the beautiful and precocious Cecelia Lancaster Pegasus, creating a sense of guilt and failure that troubled and distracted him. There was an unshakeable certainty that he could have prevented the death of the only woman he'd ever truly loved that reason was powerless to overcome as long as Shadi was around.

Max was well aware of his servant's inappropriate feelings for Cecelia, as well as how much Chris despised himself for them, yet Max had never said a word. In fact, he had insisted that Chris fill the role of best man at their wedding, saying that he would have no other stand by his side on that day or any other. The faith and trust evident in that simple gesture still overwhelmed him whenever he thought about it.

Still, a few short weeks after the wedding, Christopher had handed Max his resignation. There had been no point in discussing it; they both knew why Chris felt he had to resign. All Max could do was accept it.

Handing in that letter had been the worst, most miserable mistake of Croquet's life, for it had broken the brotherly bond of friendship that had existed between the two young men. Pegasus had been quite formal when he had contacted Croquet after Cecelia's death and offered to rehire him, but their relationship became strictly impersonal after that, restricted to the roles of master and servant.

Even though so much had been shattered between them that their relationship would never be the same again, and Maximillion was virtually insane with grief and the horror of his Millennium Eye, Croquet knew he would never leave him again unless it were by way of the grave. He loved the man too much, and as long as there were moments when he could catch a glimpse of the gentle child within the embittered man, he would stay with him. In the bodyguard's eyes, it was just that simple.

Those six years were the worst he had spent at Pegasus' side, but one morning in Egypt, in the predawn chilliness, Croquet had followed Pegasus to the top of a rock formation without the silver haired man's knowledge. He had watched the sun rise on Maximillion, as though it too could not help but pay homage to the nearly ethereal god. As breathtakingly beautiful as Max was, he had never been more splendid than he was in that moment, wreathed in a halo of sunlight that would have eclipsed any other man but served only to enhance his beauty. At that precise moment, Christopher's heart had slipped into an abyss of romantic passion from which he hadn't yet bothered to attempt to reclaim it. He had loved Cecelia, to be sure, but that love was merely an extension of what he felt for the man he served.

……..

"Ah, well…I really must be turning in. I should like to get up and start painting at sunrise." Pegasus' announcement was greeted with several groans from his teenage art class. "I hardly expect any of you to join me at such an early hour, but perhaps in the evening we could host our own little duelist tournament?"

Seto scowled. His enemy was determined to run the show in _his _beach house. Croquet blinked as though he were awakening from a deep sleep, and Joey had a lopsided grin on his face that instantly alerted Yugi to impending disaster.

"Sure, Pops, but how about we break down into teams? Yugi and I against you and Seto." Jou winked at Yugi, whose shocked, blank look didn't faze him in the least. Evidently, the potential implications of such a suggestion were lost on the dragon master's favorite pet.

"No! There is no way I am dueling as…as _his _partner, Jou! You can just count me out of this entire affair!" Seto snarled defensively.

"Are you afraid to face me?" Yami countered, taking control of his host's body. "Only a coward backs down from a challenge." Whatever insensitivity virus was infecting Jou, the spirit of the Puzzle didn't seem to be immune from.

"Afraid to face _you?" _Seto growled. "No. I'll duel you anytime, anywhere, Yami, just name it. I'll even duel as your partner. But I will _not _duel with Pegasus." With that, he stood and stormed from the room.

Jou's face was that of a scolded puppy who had erroneously mistaken his master's favorite slippers for chew toys, and he was not the only one who had been surprised and hurt by his lover's temper tantrum. An awkward silence descended over the room, broken only when Pegasus cleared his throat, "Good night, my friends. Today has been most enjoyable."

With that, the silver haired Duel Monsters creator exited the family room, Croquet following silently in his wake as he headed out to the beach. He needed to stretch his legs, not to mention collect his bruised feelings before returning to the house. Croquet's every movement told Max just how furious his bodyguard was at the young CEO as they walked to the water's edge and sat in the sand, side by side.

"I don't suppose you'll let me kill him, will you?" Croquet finally said, piercing his master's angry fugue.

"For all of his brilliance and strength, Kaiba is still in many ways a child, Christopher, a child who was never allowed to be a child. I happen to know that is something you can relate to very well," Max replied softly. While he had been in possession of the Millennium Eye, Pegasus had caught more than a few snapshot glimpses into Christopher's past.

The picture painted from Chris' memories was not a pretty one. Born and raised in in the jungles of South America by Christian missionary parents, his beloved Christopher had seen more of Hell by the age of ten than most men of seventy were aware even existed in the world. Guerrilla warfare, starving children, and drug trafficking had all taken their toll on the peaceful jungle communities. He had watched his mother die from a rare form of malaria simply because the medicine that could have saved her was not available at the primitive jungle clinic. Pegasus often wondered if some of the depth of Chris' sense of guilt over Cecelia's death was because he had been helpless to save the only other woman he had ever loved in any way.

"Hmph…that is hardly an excuse for his belligerent behavior." Croquet replied scornfully, unaware of his master's thoughts.

"Perhaps not, but it seems best to tolerate the boy with as much grace as possible." Pegasus told him quietly. "For Joseph, if nothing else."

Croquet rose and absently brushed sand off of his pants. He took two long strides away from his boss, did an about face, returned and sighed, "It does seem likely that he will be able to replicate Cecelia's body," he ventured sadly as he sat back down, his formidable restraint already back in place.

Max moved closer to him and whispered, "You do understand that she can't replace you, don't you, my old friend? I need you both."

The sound of the ocean nearly drowned out his master's voice, but Croquet caught the pained plea in Pegasus' tone anyway. " I won't leave you, Max, ever. You know that. If her body and soul are retrievable, I know you and Kaiba will find a way to accomplish it. Your family will be complete and I will still be here. However…"

"What, Chris?"

Croquet shook his head in denial, uncertain of how to put his thoughts into words, " She will doubtless find our… relationship unacceptable."

His statement was met with silence, although Max had thought about it far too often himself. Always before, he had brushed it to the back of his mind. Croquet shook his head again. "Max, you're too damn complicated. I cannot nor will I compete with her. I have accepted my place should she be returned to you."

"Yet you love us both. It seems quite unfair, Christopher." Max said in a maudlin tone.

Croquet was exasperated. "It seems unfair to you, that you can't keep us both as lovers?"

"Yes, Christopher, it does."

"Has it ever occurred to you that you are lucky to be able to afford being such a selfish eccentric?" Croquet countered, even less humour than usual bleeding into his tone.

"Selfish?"

"Max, there are some things you can't buy. Trust, for instance. Will you tell her about us? Will you ask her if she cares if you keep your extramarital affair, and accept her answer, or will you betray the goddess of your universe to screw your bodyguard?" Croquet was so absorbed in his self-righteous anger that he didn't see the right cross coming. One moment, he was trying to make his boss see the error of his ways, and the next he was flat out in the sand, blinded by the lightning strike of pain in his head.

Immediately, Pegasus was standing over him, glowering. "How dare you, Croquet!" Even as he said it, though, he knew he didn't have a solution for the dilemma. He didn't want to deal with it, and Chris was forcing him to face the reality of his situation. "I'm sorry. I…I don't know. Perhaps we could deal with it when the time comes?" he suggested hopefully, futilely.

Croquet looked up at the six foot one inch tall man-child, not even attempting to hide his astonishment, "It is better to be prepared for every eventuality."

Pegasus sank back down into the sand beside him, helping Chris into a sitting position before nodding and laying his head on his protector's shoulder. He was exhausted by the conflict, the struggle that waged within his heart. Cecelia would always be the joyful light of his world, but it was Christopher, his rough-hewn diamond, who gave him peace, who kept him safe both in the outer world and within his troubled soul. He could hardly be expected to choose between them.

………

As Max slipped into a light dream-like state his mind traveled back eleven years in time.

He and Croquet had just returned from one of their many journeys to Pegasus Island. All Max had wanted was a quiet day, a chance to recuperate from the rather stress-filled trip, but constant demands and his own restlessness had made him irrationally temperamental. To top it off, Croquet had been keeping his distance, being secretive and oddly indifferent about his duties. True, Pegasus had treated him like his own personal paid slave for nearly six years, in a relentless and demanding fashion, but that didn't explain Croquet's more recent change of attitude.

Before retiring for the evening, he ordered a meeting with his head of security to resolve the situation. On the surface, Pegasus had remained calm and cool while interrogating Croquet about his responsibilities. He had used the Millennium Eye as an investigative tool at the same time, poking and prodding at his bodyguard's thoughts. Then, as he turned the questioning toward events in Egypt, Pegasus suddenly saw himself clearly through Christopher's eyes, blazing in a perfect desert sunrise. The profound feelings of love tied to the image caused Pegasus to gasp in shock.

He had gone too far and seen too much, had trespassed like a thief in the night, and what he had discovered was certainly not what he had originally sought. He had expected some covert scheme, betrayal, a breach in the other man's loyalty, anger, disgust; anything but an emotion as fine as spun glass and as enduring as a diamond. Out on the hot barren sands, Croquet had fallen in love with him.

They had been seated in the cavernous private quarters that served as Max's bedroom, in front of a slowly dying fire. Chris took a poker, encouraging it to become a blaze once more. It was November and the island was chilly, especially in contrast to the desert.

Max, for his part, watched his bodyguard thoughtfully. His passion for life had nearly died with his wife six years earlier, but then Chris had come back to work for him and kept the flickering flame alive. Pegasus went to him, laid a hand on the man's shoulder, and gently took the poker, setting it aside.

Croquet gave his boss a quizzical look from where he knelt at the hearth. "Sir?"

Pegasus didn't answer him vocally. Instead, he took Chris' chin in his hand and bent over him. During the deep, slow kiss, Chris wound his arms around his master's waist in a possessive embrace.

…….

Lost in the increasingly erotic dream, but still on the beach, Pegasus shifted and moaned deep in his throat.

"Max, you'll catch a chill out here," Croquet pronounced, bringing him back from his mental voyages.

"Hmm…perhaps you're right. We should go to bed…" smirked the Duel Monsters creator devilishly, and Chris gave a low, gruff chuckle.

That was one way of keeping warm, he supposed.


	36. Chapter 36 Terrors of the Night

****

Chapter 36: Terrors of the Night

__

A/N: Sadly, I still do not own YGO. I wanted to mention that there was a lemon in this chapter. I couldn't edit it out as neatly as I did some of the others so there's a little bit of a jog between the first two scenes of this chapter.

……..

****

After his father's exit, Jou stalked upstairs reluctantly to talk to Seto. Though his father also deserved an apology, Pegasus had his ever-present bodyguard and friend to bandage whatever emotional wounds he may have suffered due to Jou's all too quick tongue. Seto, on the other hand, had no one but Jou and Mokuba, and with the latter of the two not even aware of the situation, the dragon master was liable to seal himself away for a day or two with his computer if Joey didn't act quickly to prevent him from retreating beneath his practiced armour.

A nice ocean breeze was blowing in through the open French doors to the master suite's overlarge balcony, and Jou followed it out to where Seto stood, shoes clicking on the stone surface as he joined his lover on the terrace. With a grunt of acknowledgement, the dragon master turned to face Joey.

****

"You should see this, Jou," Seto said neutrally, reaching out to Jou and gesturing for him to look over the edge of the balcony. Below them, Pegasus and Croquet were visible, sitting shoulder to shoulder in the sand. "You don't suppose…"

"What?" Joey gave him a quizzical look, the implications of the scene going way over his head.

Seto grinned down at the blond, finding his confusion absolutely endearing. "Do you think they have something going on?"

"Huh?" His boyfriend might as well have been speaking another language for all Jou understood.

Seto laughed, simply shaking his head as he all but dragged the puppy back into the suite. As the billionaire closed the French doors and drew the curtains, Jou fidgeted nervously, picking at a piece of lint stuck to one of the pillows as he tried to decide how best to approach the situation that had brought him up to their bedroom in the first place. Seto seemed in an unusually good mood, but perhaps that was just a facade for his pup's benefit. Either way, there was no way he could just pretend nothing had happened and not expect the wound to fester.

"Seto, I know I screwed up when I suggested you partner up with my father for a duel…" Jou began hesitantly, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment.

Seto sighed as he pulled the curtains closed a little more roughly than was necessary. "It's okay, Jou. I was out of line too." He joined his golden dragon-pup on the bed, lying on his side so that he could stare into honey eyes that, however similar they were to that of the Duel Monsters creator, evoked emotions in him that were completely different from those he had experienced during his conversation with Pegasus earlier that day. "If you want a team duel, why don't you team up with Pegasus against Yugi and I?"

Joey rolled onto his back, interlacing his fingers behind his head as he considered Seto's proposal. His father was an awesome duelist, Millennium Eye or not; he knew every strategy, every card, and every counter attack there was to know, having reinvented and mastered the game before Jou had even known what a Red-Eyes Black Dragon was. Still, Seto and his powerful dragon deck were tough to bring down, and since Jou himself relied as much on his heart and Lady Luck as he did skill, things could go sour for Team Pegasus in a hurry. Finally, there was Yugi, and he was absolutely impossible to defeat.

Jou shook his head as he turned back to face his bed-mate, "Nah. I appreciate the effort, Seto, but we both know the outcome of that match-up."

Seto nodded, his leering grin back in place. "Yes, we do."

The blond smiled back, drawing Seto into a comfortable embrace. It wouldn't hurt the dragon master to think that his lover had been referring to his formidable talents as a duelist rather than the spotless record of his long-time rival. As he snuggled deep into the firm planes of Seto's chest, Jou gave a soft, contented sigh. For the moment, all was right in his world.

The other man, however, had more than gentle cuddling in mind, largely due to the fact that he had been tortured mercilessly by the provocative blond all day . "I want you, Jou."

"Are you sure, Seto?" Jou asked softly, the desire to hide from his lover's raw intensity nearly overpowering him. "I don't need to be dominant, you know."

Seto nodded. "Only you, Pup."

A flash of inspiration struck Joey then, and he headed off to the bathroom, a curious and partially annoyed dragon master following in his wake. Through eyes tinted by lust, Seto watched the blond lay out a few items, fill the bathtub, and slip out of his clothes before turning the whirlpool on low and sinking into the tub. Smiling appreciatively, Jou drew Seto to him, positioning the long, lean legs such that he could slide his own underneath his lover's.

"The first time I saw you, Seto, you were so cold and distant. You acted so superior to everyone else, but somehow I still knew you'd been badly hurt. All I wanted, more than anything else, was to take the pain away, to see you smile and laugh, to know you were happy," Jou told him softly as he took a washcloth, rubbed some scented soap into it, and began to slide it reverently across Seto's chest. "I always knew you were beautiful, inside and out; I think even a blind man could sense it from across a crowded room. You have such a presence, so confident and strong. You're impossible to miss."

"It's just a mask, Jou," Seto said, sadness creeping into his tone. He was so undeserving of this treatment, this relationship, even Jou himself. Why would such a being ever waste more than a second's glance on a creature as broken as himself?

"No." Joey shook his head, interrupting Seto's self-deprecating speech. "The mask is the cold, hard-nosed, unfeeling CEO called Kaiba. My first impression was right, Seto; wanting to reach out to you was so totally right. You're so amazing, so strong. Even when you're vulnerable, you're powerful, seductive somehow. I belong in your arms like I'll never belong anywhere else."

__

……..

"I'm so sleepy, Seto," Jou yawned later, leaning back to nuzzle the brunet's cheek in apology.

Inwardly, Seto groaned, but nodded in understanding nonetheless as he kissed his lover chastely, releasing him from his embrace. "I didn't realize you were so tired," he said, lifting Jou from his lap and seating him on the floor of the tub so that he could rise from the rapidly cooling water himself.

"It was more of a sudden thing," replied the other man as his lover reached back into the tub in order to drain the water before easily lifting him from the water and running a soft, thick towel over him slowly, savouring the feel of his toned body through the material.

The dragon master grunted as he wrapped Jou up in the towel, clasping him to his own still wet and deliciously bare body. "Do you need any help getting to bed?" he murmured softly, and the blaze of love in Jou's breast intensified twofold.

"Were you planning on carrying me, Master?" returned the blond with a roguish grin, and the next thing he knew, he was quite literally being swept off his feet. "Whoa, Seto! Give a guy some warning before you do that!"

"And here I thought you enjoyed spontaneity, Pup," said the taller of the two with a grin of his own as he manoeuvred them into the adjacent room carefully, mindful of his precious cargo.

Jou snickered as he was gently deposited on the bed, the towel falling away to expose his golden beauty once again. "You gonna join me?" he asked, eyelids growing heavier by the moment.

Seto nodded as he climbed into bed alongside Joey, brushing stray locks of golden mane aside so that he could kiss the centre of his pet's forehead. "Of course," he said, curling into his lover's warmth as he sank into the feather mattress.

Jou was fast asleep before Seto's head came to rest on his pillow.

……

Cecelia knew nothing of what it was to possess a Millennium item or, more accurately, to _be _possessed by one. Because of this, her soul had become a waning light, unable to withstand the rigours of the Shadow Realm, and it would not be long before she ceased to exist altogether.

Ryou, meanwhile, was trying to focus his energy on the one true Ring. He could sense it, yet he was unable to summon the strength of will necessary to wrest control of it from his darker half. Nevertheless, though Bakura was doing a great job of holding his body hostage, Ryou could not, would not stop trying to reclaim it.

The albino boy had become so involved in his task that he failed to notice that he was alone in Cecelia's vision of an English garden until his fruitless efforts exhausted him completely. He fell to his knees in the grass, cursing himself for being worthless.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream pierced Ryou's self-loathing, and he had pushed himself to his feet and through the barrier between Cecelia's sanctuary and the Shadow Realm. The impenetrable, unforgiving darkness that enveloped him immediately thereafter, however, slowed his whirling tailspin of a mind down enough that he could process the necessity of having a plan of attack.

He clutched his copy of the Ring, bending his tired will upon it again. "Where is she?" he murmured, putting as much mental force behind the command as he could dredge up. To his infinite gratitude, the shadow of the Millennium Ring glowed as its spires pointed into the darkness. With a nod, Ryou ran.

Moments later, though the astral projections of his legs burned as though he'd been running for days, he caught a glimpse of a turbaned man spinning away from a motionless, crumpled form. Before Ryou could intervene, the man had vanished amid the rustle of long, sweeping robes, his unnatural blue eyes seared into Ryou's consciousness forever.

"No!" Ryou cried out in dismay even as he dove toward the manifestation of Cecelia's spirit, knowing somewhere deep within himself that he was too late.

He knelt beside the transparent, fading beauty. He expected his hands to pass through her shimmering image as he reached down to lift her into his arms, but they didn't. Cradling the light, barely-there burden to his chest protectively, the youth returned to Cecelia's pocket of Shadow space, laying her out tenderly on the cushions and coverlets. Gently, Ryou brushed a ringlet from her face, captivated by the manner in which it curled around his finger, as though it were trying to comfort him.

Hot tears of frustration began to stream unbidden down his face in his self-deprecation. Somehow, he felt as though his ineptitude had failed her, because he had not been able to save her. It escaped his temporarily selective memory that the Egyptian man he had seen standing over her must have been the human embodiment of the entity known as Souleater, potentially a match for the great King of Games himself.

Ryou laughed bitterly to himself as he dragged his knuckles roughly across red-rimmed chocolate eyes. Had he really believed that he could confront Bakura, imprison the errant yami in his soul chamber, go to Duelist Kingdom in order to return the Millennium Eye to Pegasus as a token of his regret, and tell him that his already-deceased wife was dying in the Shadow Realm? He couldn't even touch the true Ring's energy from where he was, much less reclaim control of his own body.

Apologetically, he took Cecelia's delicate hand in his own, raising it to his lips and kissing it softly. He could not imagine anyone wishing to harm to this beautiful creature, so easily loved, but he would do all in his power to make sure their foul plans did not come to fruition.

"As little as that might be, Cecelia, it is all I can offer you," he whispered against ethereal fingers, but the woman to whom they belonged did not even stir.

…….

While Ryou began his vigil over Cecelia, Croquet was watching over her husband from his twin bed. Though he would much preferred to have slept with Max (all the better to fight away his inevitable nightmares), two men sharing a twin bed did not make for the most comfortable of situations. Besides, Max had reasoned with him when he had voiced this complaint as they changed for bed, it would be rather hard to keep their relationship a secret should they sleep in and be caught in bed together by any of the other residents of the beach house. So, thanks to the ever-frustrating laws of physics, Chris had to settle for guarding his master from a bed placed four feet from Pegasus' instead of shielding the silver-haired inventor from threats both physical and spiritual in his protective embrace.

At the moment, though, the usually-carefree man was tossing and turning, his arms flailing against the nightmare that held him in its tendrils, his normally articulate voice reduced to unintelligible grunts and whimpers. Christopher had been content to stand guard silently for the past half hour, but when his employer threw a strangled, battered, over-loved Funny Bunny plushie in his face, Croquet drew the line.

His hand was no more than three inches from Pegasus' shoulder when his master sat bolt upright and screamed, "Cecelia!"

Relieved that the dream's spell had been broken, however temporarily, Croquet sat down on the side of the bed. "Max?" he said softly, his hand beginning to trace soothing circles down his master's back. "Max, it was a dream…"

"No! He's hurting her! Her soul! She's being murdered again!" Pegasus shouted, only half coherent as his arms shot up, finely manicured nails digging into Chris' bare shoulders.

"Max, no one can hurt Cecelia. She's gone. She's been gone a long time," Chris tried to reason with him. He was well aware that Max's dreams could be horribly vivid, and that when the man woke, he sometimes had difficulty separating them from reality.

"Listen to me! They murdered her body, and now they're killing her soul!" Pegasus insisted, shaking Croquet roughly.

Chris' instinctive reaction was to fill Max's head with senseless platitudes, but somewhere deep within himself, he had always known that Cecelia's death had been no accident. Denying what they both knew would make things easier for no one. " Who, Max? Who killed Cecelia?"

The shaking slowed, then stopped completely as Pegasus came back to himself. "It was... it was that damn midwife, Anya. It was all a set up: Shadi, the Millennium Eye, Cecelia's death, everything. But why, Chris? I don't know why!" With a heart-wrenching sob, Pegasus fell into Chris' arms, shaking against his long-time friend's chest as the other man stroked his fine, silver hair.

"You saw this in the library earlier today, didn't you?" Chris asked gently, and Max nodded into his lover's warmth. " I never did like Shadi…"

Max stared up at him, the white of his surviving eye nearly completely red. "And, of course, I didn't listen to you. When will I learn that you're always right, Chris?"

"What do you want me to do, Max?" Croquet asked, trying to change the subject. Regrets would do no one any good, and stood to harm a great many.

Pegasus sighed, his breath warm against Croquet's firm flesh. "Do what you do best, Chris; watch my back, catch me if I fall, guard me while I sleep. No one can do more than you do already."

"I wish that weren't true, Sir," replied his bodyguard. "I feel woefully inadequate against magical attacks."

A chuckle floated up from beneath the silver curtain of Pegasus' dishevelled hair. "Inadequacy and you do not belong in the same universe, Christopher." The other man opened his mouth to reply, but his lover stopped him with a single heated glance. "Shh. No more talking."

As Pegasus' lips claimed his, Croquet decided that was one order he was all too happy to obey.

………

Croquet and Ryou weren't the only ones keeping midnight vigils; Tristan was also watching his sleeping roommate, for slightly different reasons. While he couldn't put his finger on anything specific that was 'wrong' with the other boy, something about Bakura had creeped the brunette out ever since Duelist Kingdom.

Perhaps he had had too many close encounters with the spirit of the Ring, and become paranoid as a result. But, of course, he'd taken care of that by pitching the Ring out of a castle window and into the forest below, and since then Bakura had seemed pretty cool; though Tristan had begun to spend more time with him after Joey had moved onto the Kaiba Estate, he was unable to pinpoint any one event that could have perpetuated his irrational fears.

A smile ghosted across his lips as he remembered the little bit of fun they had tried to have the day Jou had moved into his new apartment, and said smile quickly became a scowl as he recalled how quickly Kaiba had put an end to it. Next time they tried to pull a stunt like that, they would have to get Kaiba drunk first… preferably to the point where he passed out, so they could lock him in a closet.

The sound of his roommate chanting what sounded like some strange mantra brought Tristan back to the present, although he would much preferred to have kept strolling down Memory Lane. Bakura didn't seem to be awake or asleep, but rather in some sort of trance, and Tristan shivered involuntarily as the memories of screaming guards and a growling, all-too-real Man-Eater Bug assaulted his senses.

Resolutely, he jerked out of bed, grabbed his jeans and a pillow, and headed for the comfy conversation pit downstairs. Perhaps if he could put some physical distance between himself and Bakura, he would get some sleep that night.

…….

Being a spirit, Yami had no need for sleep. Normally, the fact that Yugi did was not a problem for the dark spirit of the Puzzle, but tonight was not a normal night. Just as he had on the night of the fire, Yami found the Millennium Puzzle too confining, and so he had separated from his soundly sleeping light in order to take a walk on the beach.

His plans for quiet solitude were foiled, however, when he discovered that Tea had also had been thinking along those same lines. The lovely azure-eyed dancer didn't seem to notice him, however, but instead seemed to be deep in thought as she stared out at the ocean. Yami had been enchanted with her ever since Johnny Steps had challenged her to DDR; when she danced, her passionate fire was plain to see, and that attracted him to no end. He supposed it was because she reminded him of someone from long ago: a slave girl, her memory adorned in layered silk veils and gold bangles. The only feature of her face visible to the casual onlooker were eyes the color of the sea, challenging and willful. Though he could remember nothing else of her save that she had danced before his throne for his entertainment, the thought of her set off something instinctive in him, something primal that told the former pharaoh that she had been much more to him than a servant, and perhaps even more than a friend.

As he approached the young girl, so like the vision of his dreams, Yami was as silent as a hot breeze blowing over burning desert sand. Of course, Tea nearly jumped out of her skin when he crouched next to her and tapped her on the shoulder gently.

"Oh, Yami! It's just you!" she gasped, clutching her hands to her rampaging heart. "Having trouble sleeping too?"

"I don't actually sleep, Tea," he replied. "However, I take it that you couldn't?"

She shook her head, turning back to the water. "It's just a strange place, that's all. The sound of the ocean kept me awake."

"Everyplace is strange to me," Yami sighed, and Tea could have sworn she detected a note of bitterness in the deep, baritone voice. A flash of sympathy shot through her, and she wanted nothing more than to comfort him, although she had no idea how.

"Do you miss Egypt?" she finally offered, rather lamely.

Yami's head swivelled slowly, narrowed crimson eyes nearly swallowing her whole. "It's difficult to miss a place you don't remember, Tea."

His glare frightened her, she averted her eyes contritely. "I'm so sorry," she began quietly. "I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to disregard your feelings or anything"

She was cut off when strong, sun-darkened hands enclosed her own pale ones. "No. It is I who should be apologizing, Tea." His eyes were no longer cold, but rather so warm that Tea had to look away, for fear of getting burned. "You were only trying to help. I had no right to react in that manner."

"No…I…" She wanted to accept responsibility for her own thoughtlessness, but she just couldn't look into his eyes. She was afraid of what was in his heart almost as much as she feared that which grew inside hers.

Confused, Yami reached up, gently tilting her face back towards his. "Do you fear me, Tea?" he asked directly, the question devoid of anything resembling malice.

Her breath caught in her throat as she struggled to reply. "Maybe a little, sometimes," she said honestly, regretting the words almost as soon as she drew breath to speak them.

"You needn't," came the soft reply before she felt warm, gentle lips against hers, pressing firmly yet keeping the kiss chaste. Though she was surprised, her eyes slid closed anyway, only reopening once Yami backed away a few seconds later.

"Why haven't you ever told Yugi how you feel about him, Tea? You must know he's crazy about you," the former pharaoh stated, abruptly changing the subject.

"I…I…" she stammered, unable to think of a suitable reply. In the end, she decided to say exactly what she was feeling. "Why did you kiss me, then, if you know Yugi has feelings for me? How could you betray him like that?"

A puzzled look crossed Yami's face. "You don't have to choose between us, Tea."

The brunette blinked in surprise, and a rosy blush blossomed on her face. "W-what? What do you mean?"

"There is much that Yugi and I share," Yami told her seriously, abandoning one of her hands in order to trace the curve of her face with gentle, dexterous fingers, "and I am certain that there is more that we could share, were you willing. I know I would be more than amenable to such a possibility."

Tea pulled away from him as understanding dawned on her bewildered mind. "I-I think I'll just go in now... " she began, but her voice became a high-pitched squeak as Yami rose as well, taking a few steps toward her.

"Have I offended you, Tea?" he asked, his brow creased with worry. Yugi would never forgive him if he pushed the object of their affections away, especially not if it was by being too forward.

"N-no... I wouldn't say I'm offended, exactly..." Even so off-balance, she managed to appear graceful in Yami's mind. "Look, I'll talk to you tomorrow, all right, Yami?" Before he could say anything more, she dashed into the house, hoping he wouldn't follow her. All she wanted at that moment was to be in her bedroom in Domino with the door bolted, barricaded, and perhaps even painted shut.

Thankfully, Yami didn't follow her, choosing instead to stay on the beach for a while longer. The endless waves of water lapping at the shore fascinated him as he attempted to make sense of the puzzle that was Tea Gardner. Since she seemed to be interested in both Yugi and himself, it had seemed perfectly reasonable to him that she should just date both of them. It solved many problems. Still, though he had not meant to, he had somehow wound up frightening the girl away, and that was what baffled him about the entire exchange.

"Modern women!" he sighed to himself. "They can't possibly have been this complicated in my day."

/Yugi/ A desperate cry seared across the pharaoh's mind, shattering his musings. His head whipped around, taking in the empty stretch of sand between his position and the beach house. The voice had not been altogether unfamiliar. "Bakura?" he whispered.

/Yugi, help…/ The cry faded as Yami fell into his Shadow powers, attempting to locate its source. It was definitely Bakura, but it was coming from his mind, not the surrounding area. He would not have believed it possible for one bearer of a Millennium item to contact another telepathically, but the mechanics of the situation could be sorted out later. At the moment, all that was important was that Bakura was in danger, and he had to help him.

The spirit of the Puzzle ran towards the house, taking no notice of the screen door as it banged shut behind him. He charged up the back stairs and down the second floor hallway, throwing wide the door to Tristan and Bakura's room. Though Tristan was nowhere to be seen, Bakura appeared to be fast asleep. Of course, there was the tiny matter of the round, golden glow beneath his pajama top, not to mention the fact that he was chanting softly under his breath, to dispel that illusion faster than a Mystical Space Typhoon.

Pushing any reservations out of his mind, Yami strode up to the white-haired boy and tore the upper half of his shirt open. As he had suspected, the Millennium Ring had once again returned to its host, and Yami was willing to bet that the dark spirit locked within it had wasted no time in banishing his lighter half to the Shadows once again.

Whoever happened to be in Bakura's body at the moment, however, took no notice of Yami's actions, or even his presence. In this close proximity, Yami could make out just enough words to deduce that the chanting was part of a spell used to keep spirits from re-entering a physical body once they had been banished.

"Stop it!" shouted the pharaoh, reaching out to try and tear the Ring from about Bakura's neck. A bright flash of punishing golden light threw him back immediately, however, and as Yami dragged himself back up to his feet, he felt the energies sustaining his physical form beginning to wane. _I may have gotten better at this since the fire, but there's no way I can hold onto this body and work on breaking his shield at the same time._

"You haven't won yet, tomb robber," he growled as his body became ethereal, then faded entirely.

……..

Jou was sleeping peacefully in Seto's embrace when he was suddenly jerked into an all too familiar smoke-filled hallway. Realizing what was going on, he ran forward until he saw the figure of a woman crumpled on the ground before him. The sight unbalanced him so that he tripped and fell, and crawled the rest of the way to her before lifting her into his lap.

"Mother…" Acting on some instinct that he didn't understand, he bent over her as if to give her mouth-to-mouth, forcing his own spiritual energy into her form instead of air.

Cecelia opened her crystalline blue eyes then, reaching up to touch Jou's face. He took her fingers and kissed them. As his lips brushed her hand, visions began to pass through his mind: Ryou clutching a shadowy version of the Ring, which was glittering faintly, while his body floated above the bed amidst muted, incomprehensible chanting. There was a flash of Yami Bakura and his light standing back to back, the Ring between them, and Ryou bleeding into the shadows.

Suddenly, he was once again looking into his mother's worried face. "Tell your father…" she whispered as she faded away, and Jou felt himself being pulled back into the realm of the living, too shocked by what he'd just seen to even attempt resistance.

……..

Back on the physical plane, Joey shifted in Seto's arms, ignorant of the events transpiring around them as he snuggled in closer. Eyes the colour of the sky on a cloudless summer's day cracked open at this deepening of their contact, and Seto tightened his arms around his lover possessively, stealing a languid kiss from ruby lips. Years of emotional starvation had made him ravenous in his need for Jou; in fact, the rest of the blond's friends would be as shocked by the intensity with which the ice-cold CEO burned for the boy with puppy dog eyes as Tristan had been. Jou had not only melted his heart, but set the whole of his being ablaze with passionate fury, and Seto would never be able to thank him enough for that awakening.

As he leaned down to press his lips into a flaxen mane made more unruly by sleep, Jou jerked in his embrace, his eyes snapping open in wide-eyed terror. "No!" he shouted, thrashing around wildly in Seto's slackened, but not altogether lax embrace.

"Jou, snap out of it!" Seto shook the blond roughly, and eventually his crazed amber eyes settled into recognition. "You were having a nightmare. Are you all right now?"

"Seto?" Joey's brow furrowed in confusion. "Where am I? Is this the Shadow Realm?"

"Shadow Realm?" Seto was quite possibly more confused than this lover at this point. "Jou, listen to me. You were dreaming. That's all."

Jou stared into Seto's eyes, and their electric cobalt brought the dream back in a rush. Cecelia, unconscious on the ground... his spiritual resuscitation... the two Bakuras... "Father! I have to tell Father!" He tried to kick off the covers and roll out of bed, but Seto held him in place.

"What could you need to tell Pegasus at this hour of the night?" he demanded.

Jou had never been much for patience at the best of times; at this point, he was worse than a caged lion. "I don't have time to explain, Seto! Just let me go!" Angrily, he shoved his boyfriend away, sending the much slighter man tumbling to the floor. Taking advantage of his temporary reprieve, he leapt out of bed, pulled on his discarded boxers and a robe, and dashed out into the hallway.

Seto growled as he pushed himself to his feet, "Damn crazy mutt..." he growled. "If I didn't love him so goddamn much, he'd be out like yesterday's trash." His grumbling degenerated into angry muttering as he searched for his pants and shirt, stumbling over random pieces of furniture. _Maybe the Spartans were on to something..._

By the time he had accomplished this, Jou was already knocking on his father's bedroom door. Croquet opened it far too quickly for either occupant of the room to have been asleep, letting Jou in graciously and glaring daggers at Kaiba as he dashed up to the wooden portal. True to form, the younger man merely sneered as he blew into the suite with all the force of a chill wind, his eyes darting around the room in search of Jou.

Pegasus was sitting in an armchair, wearing black silk pajamas that made him look regal but underscored his despondence. Somehow, Jou knew that the shell-shocked expression on his father's face was related both to his own dreams and whatever was going on with Bakura. Exhaustedly, he knelt in front of his father and laid his tawny gold head on Pegasus' silk clad knee.

"Cecelia…my mother…she's trapped in the Shadow Realm, isn't she?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Pegasus somberly.

"But how can that be? Does that mean that she isn't really dead? We have to save her!" Joey was getting frantic as more and more questions flew out of his mouth. He wasn't sure what he was thinking, much less saying.

"Joseph." Pegasus slowly focused on his son, stroking his hair, the action soothing himself more than his distraught child. Suddenly, he was conscious of Seto scowling at them, and he glared up at the brunet, angry with him for keeping their project a secret from his child. "Tell him what you're working on, Kaiba," he commanded. "If you do not, I shall, and you can explain to him why your secrecy was more important than his emotional well-being."

Seto ignored Pegasus, kneeling down and taking one of Jou's hands. "Come on, Jou. I'll explain everything in private." He had known that letting Pegasus into their lives would be tantamount to opening a door into madness, and the events of the last eighteen hours had been proof enough of that for him.

But Jou stopped, almost not hearing him. His mind was a tangled jumble that he couldn't process without speaking. "She wanted me to tell you," he all but whispered to his father. "I saw Ryou in the Shadow Realm, but his body was here, and I think Yami Bakura's taken over, because he had the Ring back, but I thought Tris got rid of that on Duelist Kingdom, so that's impossible..." He trailed off, turning back to the door. "We've got to go warn Tristan! He's sleeping in the same room with that maniac, and if something"

Pegasus grabbed Jou's free arm in a vise-like grip as more repressed memories began to flood into his mind, and Chris' position as an observer afforded him a perfect view of the symbolic scene. "Bakura…is the keeper of the Millennium Ring. He appeared after I had set their souls free: Kaiba, Mokuba, and Yugi's grandfather..." He had slipped into a trance, his face turning as white as his hair and clashing painfully with his dark clothing. His father resembled a gothic vampire, Jou thought, but there was a subtle tremor in his voice that belied his all too fallible humanity. "'I'm a man of my word. Bakura…but it wasn't Bakura, just some ancient evil creature in his body…so strong, inhuman, millennia old…he challenged me to a Shadow duel. The stakes were our Millennium items. I was weakened by releasing those souls, exhausted and devastated over losing to Yugi…"

Croquet decided that it was time to intervene; as enlightening as Max's visions were at times, and as dangerous as repressed memories could be, neither of these benefits would mean very much if his master were driven insane by trying to assimilate too much at one time. He shattered Pegasus' grip on Jou, sending the boy sprawling into Seto, who clutched him possessively even as they both fell backward, and moved into the space Jou had vacated.

"Max?" He brushed back the long silver strands of hair that veiled the man's once perfect face, and Joey gasped in shock as Seto averted his eyes for the briefest moment. Though Chris would have liked nothing better than to smack their heads together for that minor insensitivity, he had to attend to his master first.

The evidence of the atrocity horrified Joey far less than what it represented, and he realized that this was the first time he had ever seen his father as he truly was. No Millennium Eye, no patch, no silver veil covering half of his face; there was only a sunken hole in the man's skull, covered with healed over flesh that was puckered and scarred. Tears rolled down Joey's own face in his grief as he came to comprehend just what had been stolen from both of them, and though Seto may not have understood exactly what was affecting him so strongly, that didn't stop him from stroking his pet dragon-pup's hair soothingly.

Seeing that his efforts were having no effect, Croquet pulled Pegasus into his arms in order to comfort him on a level that was that much deeper, hoping to draw him away from the unleashed memories of the past. He hated that the man he had devoted his life to protecting had to face these constant spectres alone, but he would do all that he could to facilitate the process anyway. _The whelps' impressions be damned. _"Max, I'm here. Come back to me," he murmured, almost frantically, against his lover's ear.

The glassy brown eye cleared, and Pegasus stared up at his protector, childlike and lost. "Why couldn't I remember, Chris?"

"Bakura stole the Millennium Eye, Sir?" Every line of Croquet's body had gone rigid, yet his voice remained calm and reassuring as Pegasus attempted to focus.

"Yes." He paused, deep in thought, before looking over Chris' shoulder to Jou. "Joseph, did you say that Tristan disposed of the Millennium Ring?"

Joey nodded, not really paying attention; he was far too busy watching the two older men together. Some small connection had begun to spark in the distant reaches of the blond's tired brain when Croquet had stepped in between himself and his father. There had been something nearly possessive in the salt-and-pepper haired man's manner. Even though Croquet was angry and on edge, he had been beyond gentle in his treatment of Pegasus, expertly drawing Joey's father back from the demons that inhabited his memory. Nonetheless, though Jou recognized that there was something to be noticed, he was far too overwhelmed by the night's events to ascertain exactly what.

"Millennium items can only change hands as the result of a win or loss in a duel," Pegasus explained, obviously not noticing his son's short attention span manifesting itself. "Unless Tristan duelled Bakura, in which case he would have it, Bakura has both the Millennium Ring and the Eye."

Croquet was on the move as soon as the final syllable had left Max's mouth. He strode quickly over to the bed and pulled a leather case out from under it. With practiced efficiency, he loaded and inserted a clip of ammunition from the case into his Glock, and the ensuing click sent waves of nausea through Seto's stomach. He had become far too familiar with that sound.

"Christopher, stop." Had Pegasus not been so drained, he would have taken the gun from his servant physically. In this case, however, that was almost entirely out of the question if he wished to stay conscious. "No matter how many bullets you were to pump into the poor boy's body, I would have to duel Bakura for the Eye, and I do not think I want it. Besides, going up against an enemy whose powers we know nothing about is suicidal at best. We need to think this through carefully if we are to emerge the victors." As he spoke, Pegasus glanced at Seto, who glared derisively at him.

"So, what, we're just going to ignore the situation and hope it goes away on its own?" the brunet sneered.

It was with a great reluctance that Croquet put his weapon away. Though using it on Bakura had been forbidden, he could think of someone else in the immediate vicinity who would be a lot more bearable as a corpse. "Sir, perhaps we should locate and warn Tristan before we get into any complicated planning?" Chris had taken a liking to the quiet, brown-eyed teen. His unshakable loyalty and protectiveness of his friends, in particular Joseph and Serenity, reminded him a little of his own fierce dedication to Pegasus.

"But that means that maybe... Bakura isn't Ryou Bakura at all!" Jou exclaimed suddenly. All the talk of Millennium Items had sidetracked the blond, dredging up memories of being run down by the Reaper of the Cards in a Flame Swordsman costume.

"What are you talking about, Jou?" Seto turned the boy in his arms around, gazing at him with extreme scepticism.

"It's like Yugi and Yami, Seto. Yami's the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, and he used to be a pharaoh in Egypt…" Jou started.

"Fairy tales," Seto interrupted, folding his arms over his chest.

"That _fairy tale _carried me out of a burning building!" Jou snapped, forgetting in his anger to mourn the loss of Seto's embrace.

Pegasus shot Seto a warning glare before turning back to his son, ignoring the other billionaire's disbelief. "So, Joseph, it was Yami to whom I lost the Duelist Kingdom tournament?"

"Yes," Jou confirmed, sticking his tongue out in Seto's direction. "At least somebody around here believes me, Moneybags." Taking no notice of Seto's sputtering, he turned back to regard his father. "The Ring has a spirit attached to it too, only that one's evil. He trapped our souls in our favorite cards on Duelist Kingdom during a Shadow duel he was fighting with Yami, and I almost got skewered on the Reaper's scythe!" Jou shuddered so lightly that none but Seto noticed before continuing. "At least Ryou was able to stop him that time, but maybe Yami Bakura came back, and did something to take over his body? I mean, he went after Mokuba while you were duelling Yugi, because he needed a soulless shell…" He trailed off with a sigh. "I hope Ryou's okay."

Pegasus sighed as well. He was saddened by his son's reference to his soul-stealing days, especially since Joseph appeared to be oblivious to the guilt that he had lived with ever since. He also knew that, if what Joseph said was correct, they were all in a great deal of danger. He had had first-hand experience with this particular yami's powers, and that was not a fate he would wish on anyone. "One thing at a time, Joseph. First, we need to be certain that Taylor-boy is safe, and then we must get some rest. Even with the best of plans, it will take all our energy to fight this spirit, if that is truly what we are up against."

Seto, however, had stopped following the conversation when Jou had mentioned his little brother's near miss with Yami Bakura. He had known nothing about the attempt, and being reminded of the entire incident (including how Mokuba had become soulless) made him infuriated with Pegasus all over again. Not only was the madman responsible for the first debacle, but he was setting things up for a repeat performance by refusing to take immediate action against this new threat. "No way!" he exploded, and the other three men turned to stare at him.

"Seto, what" Jou started.

"This is _my _house, and I'm getting Bakura out of it tonight!" Seto's eyes were blazing with such an obstinate, azure fire that Jou did not relish the prospect of attempting to calm his lover down.

His father, however, wasted no time attempting to defuse the situation. Were they to prevail against the dark spirit of the Ring, there was no room for anything resembling such a blinding rage. "Despite your station as our host, Kaiba-boy, I feel obliged to warn you that such a course of action would be most unwise. We mustn't let this evil Bakura know that we suspect he's a danger at all; rather, everything must appear to proceed as though we had never had this meeting."

Only Jou noticed the identical frowns on Seto and Croquet's faces. Though he was overjoyed that they had finally agreed on something, he wasn't sure how he felt about that something being his father's poor judgment.

"I won't have some maniac around my brother!" Seto roared deafeningly.

Pegasus, for his part, simply raised an eyebrow and glanced at his protector. "It appears my position as most dangerous maniac has bee usurped, Christopher." To Kaiba, he offered a wan smile. "I'm touched."

Seto snorted. "Hardly. In fact, if you were anyone but Jou's father, I'd have tossed you out of here so fast"

Joey caught the sudden tension in Croquet's shoulders, and decided that the verbal battle had gone on long enough. "Come on, Seto," he said, slipping his hand through that of his master. "Let's go find Tristan before Yami Bakura decides he'd rather be a brunet."

As soon as they were gone, Pegasus' strength seemed to leave him, and the memory of what Yami Bakura had done to him flooded back. He had had quite enough revelations for one day, and didn't think he could take one more unbidden image assaulting his consciousness.

True to form, however, Chris was right there beside him, silently pulling him up to his feet and into his arms. Neither man spoke until Max whispered, "I don't want to remember anymore, Chris." He looked up at Croquet, feeling some of his strength and willpower bleeding back into him as he lay with his cheek pressed against firm musculature. "If Joseph is correct, then Yami Bakura has most likely sent Ryou's soul to the Shadow Realm, just as he did my own." The silver-haired man's nails dug into his guardian's shoulders desperately. "It is imperative that he does not know what we suspect, Christopher. A cornered animal fights viciously, and I do not want my son endangered. He's all the family I have left."

Eventually, Pegasus returned to his bed, but Croquet chose to remain in the window seat, watching over his master in the same patiently unobtrusive manner that he had while Max was comatose. "Though I will do as you request, Sir, I find that for once I agree with Kaiba. It would be better to get Bakura out of the house tonight before he has the opportunity to bring harm to anyone, especially yourself. We must not overlook the possibility that, if he discovers that you recall his theft of the Millennium Eye, he may attempt to murder you."

Though his tone betrayed nothing, Christopher was fuelled not only by concern over his master's passive attitude, but by anger as well. He would love nothing better than to rip Bakura's throat out with his bare hands while the ancient spirit still slept.

"And then what, Christopher? We wait for him to come skulking out of the shadows while our guard is down?" Pegasus rolled over to stare at his lover, pushing himself up onto one elbow. "It would be a far better idea to keep him close, where we can keep an eye on him, don't you think?"

"Yes, Sir." Croquet answered him stiffly as he reached over to turn out the lights. Though he would get no more sleep that night, he knew that Max sorely needed some rest.

…….

Once they were downstairs, Seto and Jou had only to follow the sounds of snoring to find Tristan contentedly asleep on the longest section of the conversation pit in the family room.

"Wow, I didn't notice that before." Jou whispered as they retreated to their own room, careful not to disturb the sleeping teen.

"Notice what?" Seto asked, his voice a muted hiss.

"That you and Tristan sound exactly the same when you snore," Jou grinned, forfeiting the enjoyment of watching his lover's shock in order to ensure that he didn't trip on the stairs.

Seto froze on the staircase below his pup, clutching the railing so hard that Jou was sure it would snap. "I do _not _snore."

"Uh huh. Whatever you say." Though Joey didn't turn around, the sarcasm in his voice was more than enough to tell Seto that the acknowledgement was insincere at best.

"Do not," Seto insisted.

"Ask Mokuba. I'm sure he'll tell you." Jou snickered as they cleared the final step, turning to stroke his master's cheek softly and finding the newly formed creases in Seto's face rather amusing. "You're pouting, baby blue eyes," he said, though he couldn't see for sure through the darkness.

"I don't pout and I don't snore," Seto corrected him tersely, pushing past him on the stairs and stalking back to their room. Joey followed him, shame creeping into his heart as he realized that Seto was upset about far more important things than whether he snored or not, and his good-natured teasing was only aggravating the situation.

"I'm sorry, Seto," he said, closing the bedroom door behind them before shuffling contritely over to his boyfriend and leaning up to give him a quick kiss. "I was only trying to lighten things up a bit."

"I don't know where Pegasus gets off, telling me what to do in my own house; he's such a control freak!" The mere fact that Seto refused to acknowledge Jou's apology meant that he had already forgiven the blond, and for that Jou was grateful.

Of course, he nearly blew it by making the mistake of snickering again, knowing full well who the control freak was under this roof. Thinking quickly, he managed to turn it into a cough, and Seto only missed this slight because of his absorption in his frustration.

"Why didn't you tell me Bakura, or whatever it is that is masquerading as Bakura, tried to take my brother's soulless shell? A shell that _your _precious father made soulless!" Seto demanded. Joey knew instantly that his lover's ire wasn't directed at him, but at Seto himself for having been unable to protect Mokuba from Yami Bakura. That didn't make it any easier to weather Seto's furious glare, though.

"I didn't think about it until tonight, Seto. I mean, it never came up before…" Joey said quietly, looking down at his bare feet as his shoulders slumped.

"It isn't your fault, Jou," Seto admitted grudgingly. Even he wasn't insensitive enough to overlook the sting of hurt in his puppy's voice. "I maintain that Pegasus is wrong, but I'll go along with letting Bakura stay for now. If he steps out of line, though, I'll do whatever it takes to protect you and Mokuba."

"I know, Seto, and I love you for that." The dragon master's arms slid around him as they had countless times that night, and Jou pressed his lips against Seto's equally hungry mouth. "He was right about one thing, though; we should get some sleep. Don't forget, surf's up tomorrow." As the image of Seto with a tan crossed his mind, he brightened considerably. Tomorrow would be fun, Jou promised himself, and no bitter spirit was going to screw it up for them. It would just be himself, Seto, his father, and their friends on a nice, warm beach, with no distractions or worries except when the tide was coming in.

Seto nodded, but like Croquet, he knew that he had gotten all the sleep he would that night. He couldn't believe he was going along with Pegasus' plan of inaction, but that took a backseat to assimilating the knowledge of the danger Mokuba had faced while they had both been soulless shells. The dragon master couldn't help but feel that his perfect, orderly life had been spinning out of control since Jou had come into it, yet even as the golden boy curled up against him with a low, contented sigh, nuzzling his chest gently, he knew he wouldn't want it any other way.

Amazingly enough, the soft, rhythmic sound of Jou's breathing eventually lulled Seto to sleep as well, granting him a few more hours of blissful release from the all-too-real demons that threatened all he held dear. Though he had no way of knowing this at the time, he would need all the rest he could get and more in order to get through the next twenty-four hours. Bakura, never one for patience, would likely make a move soon, and Seto would have to be ready to face whatever came.


	37. Chapter 37 The Rogue Tomb Robber

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Chapter 37: The Rogue Tomb Robber

Disclaimer: What? You mean some people actually get paid to write?

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…….

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The sun was just beginning to clear the eastern horizon when Yami appeared at Yugi's side, gazing down into the innocent childlike face of his lighter half. Yugi was his to protect, much as Seto protected Mokuba or Jou protected Serenity. In the same way, the love that he harboured for Yugi was that of an older brother towards his younger sibling, though it went far deeper due to their mental link.

Yami was about to call to Yugi when Mokuba turned in his sleep a few feet away. The cherub's rest was undisturbed, and Yami wanted it to remain that way. "Aibou…" he whispered, leaning in as close to Yugi as propriety allowed in order to avoid rousing Mokuba.

Yugi shifted and rolled away from the disturbance, determined that not even his yami would succeed in awakening him where the light of dawn had failed. A few none-too-gentle shakes later, though, and the childlike teen reluctantly opened his sleep-blurred lavender eyes, meeting the intent stare of his darker half's crimson orbs. "What is it, Yami?" he yawned, lowering his voice to a whisper upon remembering that Mokuba was sleeping not ten feet away. "We're on vacation, so you'd better have a good reason for getting me up this early." His hand groped around on the nightstand, nearly sending the lamp crashing to the floor before it closed around a tiny alarm clock. "Five-thirty? Make that an _excellent _reason."

The pharaoh rose, gesturing imperially for Yugi to follow him into the bathroom where he hoped they could speak privately. Once his grumbling light had joined him, he closed and locked the doors connecting the bathroom to the bedrooms. "We have a problem, Yugi," he began.

"That's nothing new." Yugi interrupted before splashing cold water over his face in an attempt to wake himself up completely. Though Yami seemed deadly serious about whatever was bothering him, Yugi couldn't imagine what could possibly have gone so wrong during the night to warrant such gravity. _Joey probably ate the last Pop-Tart or something..._

"Bakura is evil." Yami stated bluntly as Yugi dug the toothpaste out of the medicine cabinet, seemingly oblivious to his counterpart's shock. "We were in error to assume that the Millennium Ring had been cast aside. In truth, Bakura has been in possession of it all along."

"But how is that possible, Yami?" Yugi turned to regard his darker side, brushing his teeth hastily so as not to hold off their conversation any longer than necessary. Every moment they wasted was another in which they could conceivably be interrupted.

"Aibou, have you not learned in the two years since our meeting that, with magic, anything is possible?" Yami sat down on the edge of the bathtub, balancing himself carefully. It wouldn't do to perpetrate an action as graceless as falling in while they were having a serious conversation, after all; the mood would be completely ruined.

Yugi spat the toothpaste into the constant stream of water pouring from the tap, filling a conveniently placed plastic cup from the same source, "But Ryou…"

"Ryou has been locked out of his own body. Bakura…," Yami nearly spat the name, "is…I don't know any word vile enough to describe him." The former king paced the length of the small bathroom in frustration, looking like a caged lion whose mane had had a bad experience with several bottles of hair dye, and Yugi pushed himself up on the counter between the twin sinks in order to stay out of his way. "I am almost certain he has exiled his light to the Shadow Realm, and there is no doubt that he will eventually come after us, Yugi. After all, we have the Puzzle." His fist slammed down against one of the sinks, and the sudden noise after the enforced silence made Yugi jump. "How could I have been so blind! No... I must waste no more time on regret. I shall challenge him to a duel, and snatch the element of surprise from the vulture's claws…"

"Yami?" Yugi spoke up meekly, yet still managed to shatter his other half's fugue state. "Maybe you should wait until tonight. Pegasus wanted to duel, and that would give you the perfect opportunity."

The agitated pharaoh calmed visibly, folding his arms as he thought Yugi's idea over. "Very well, aibou. We will do as you suggest." With that, he vanished in a flash of light, and Yugi shook his head.

"There is no reason that couldn't have waited a few more hours," he sighed as he returned to the task of completing his morning ritual.

…….

Serenity, Tea, Yugi, and Bakura joined Pegasus on the beach later in the morning. Croquet had been invited to join them, but had chosen to watch from the porch instead. Though the face behind his shades was completely inscrutable, his eyes in fact saw all, paying special attention to the white-haired thief that, at the moment, was far too close to his master for comfort.

Pegasus treated Bakura no differently than he did the other teens, but inwardly he was considering his options for confronting the wielder of the Ring. He truly did not want to reclaim the Millennium Eye; it had twisted and distorted his world, not to mention scarred him for life. Still, he was unsure that he would hesitate to take possession of it should the opportunity present itself.

Tea spent most of her time glancing furtively at Yugi, bashfully turning away and trying to concentrate on the outcropping of rocks she was drawing each time he happened to look up.

"Is something wrong, Tea?" Yugi finally asked her once this had been going on for the better part of an hour.

Tea set her sketchpad down with a heavy sigh. Though her every instinct was screaming that she couldn't tell Yugi what was bothering her, she couldn't lie to him. "I don't know how to tell you this, Yugi," she began uncertainly.

"Tell me what?" Yugi asked, concerned. It wasn't like Tea to be melodramatic; if something was affecting her this strongly, he knew that it had to be important.

"I couldn't get to sleep last night, so I went for a walk on the beach," she said.

"And?" Yugi prompted. He was getting more worried by the second; getting Tea to talk had never been so difficult.

"Yami met me out here…," she hesitated just long enough to take a deep breath, "He kissed me and then he said that I could date both of you…" Her eyes found Yugi's surprised and blushing face. "He didn't tell you, did he?"

Yugi shook his head incredulously. "Back up a bit, Tea. What did you just say?" He was sure he had misheard her; though his darker side knew of his feelings for Tea, Yugi had made Yami promise that he wouldn't pursue anything without his light's permission.

"I told him that we needed to talk to you! What do you think I said?" Tea snapped, offended.

A sudden desire for reinforcements went off in Yugi's consciousness, so he called on the only entity whose presence seemed appropriate. /Yami? Would you please join us/

A quick flash from the Millennium Puzzle, and the pharaoh was sitting on the sand beside his light, crimson eyes darting from Yugi to Tea and back again. "May I be of some assistance, aibou?"

"Have you been listening, Yami?" Yugi asked mildly.

"Listening? Oh, I see…" Yami was perplexed until he noticed Tea avoiding eye contact with them. _This must be about last night._

"It's okay, Yami," Yugi told the spirit, his face set into a cheerful mask. In reality, he wanted nothing more than to wring Yami's neck. "I wish it weren't so draining for you to materialize. Then, you could go surfing with us this afternoon." As much as Yugi would have loved to have the situation resolved right that minute, he didn't want to make Tea any more uncomfortable than she already was, and the only way he could think of to realize that goal was an abrupt subject change.

"Surfing? I'm not certain I would be entirely comfortable on such a vast body of water, Yugi." Yami was even more eager than his other half to escape the confrontation, however necessary it might have been. Taking advantage of the very welcome topic change, he glanced out at the ocean, watching the waves roll in and out.

Tea scowled. How could they pretend that nothing had happened when she had spent most of her time since her encounter with Yami agonizing over the very issue that they were ignoring? "I don't even know what I'm doing here!" she cried, snatching her sketchpad as she stood, "It's obvious that you two don't need me around!"

"Wait, Tea!" Yugi cried after her as she stormed off towards the beach house, but she didn't even turn around to acknowledge his call. His violet eyes nearly ablaze with frustration, Yugi snatched up his sketchpad.

"This is all your fault," he growled at Yami as he followed Tea, apprehension slowing his step.

………

Tea stomped up the sandy path to the beach house, her sandals slapping against concrete as she flung the screen door back savagely. How could they just play with her feelings like that? If they wanted a relationship, why not ask her like civilized people instead of kissing her and then ignoring the entire incident? Did they truly have so little respect for her?

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she forgot to watch where she was going, and smacked Jou in the head with the kitchen door as a result. "Oh, Joey, are you all right? I'm so sorry!" Her anger was forgotten temporarily as her friend recovered from his momentary shock, rubbing his head slowly.

"I'm fine, Tea. You know my head's thicker than that." He was about to step aside to order to let her pass when he recognized her distress. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Tea responded by throwing herself into Joey's arms, sobbing wildly, and that was how Seto found them when he walked into the kitchen, dragging his knuckles across his bloodshot eyes. He had been up long before anyone else and, having left Jou a note to meet him in the library, had gone right to work on his program. As he reached for the half-full coffee pot, his eyes met those of his lover, and Seto arched an eyebrow at the girl in Jou's arms.

"I'm such a fool, Joey," Tea whimpered into the blond man's chest, unaware of Seto's gaze on her. "I really thought they liked me, but all they seem to want is each other."

"Huh? Who?" Jou scratched his head, and Seto rolled his eyes.

"Yugi and Yami, Puppy," he supplied around a sip of coffee, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Tea spun, looking mortified that Seto had overheard, and the brunet took his cue to make a his exit.

Before Jou could say anything more, Yugi came in, looking embarrassed and flustered, "Tea, I'm sorry about what just happened. Could we go someplace and talk?"

She glanced up at Joey before nodding at the newcomer, following him into the living room as she wiped her eyes.

Feeling more than a little useless, Joey poured himself a glass of orange juice. "Kuba, have you seen Tristan? He was sleeping in the family room last I checked," he said to the boy nestled comfortably in the breakfast nook, unnoticed by anyone but his brother's boyfriend.

Mokuba frowned around a mouthful of pancakes. "Why was he sleeping in the family room in the first place?"

Memories of Bakura levitating several inches above the bed and what the conversation in his father's room had revealed wormed their way into Jou's consciousness as Mokuba spoke, but he simply shrugged, "I don't know. Why don't you wake his lazy butt up and ask him?"

Mokuba grinned. "Okay." Cramming the last bit of his breakfast into his mouth, he put his dishes in the sink and set off on his mission.

Free for the moment, Joey polished off his orange juice and went up to see Seto in the library. The genius dragon master looked up from his laptop as he came in, and Jou could see pieces of electronic equipment scattered across the room. _What's he need that stuff for?_

Oblivious to his dragon-pup's concerns, Seto rose and took Jou into his arms, hugging him around the waist.

"I don't know if I can do this, Jou. It's damned intricate," he whispered into the sea of blond hair brushing his lips, experiencing a rare moment of self- doubt.

"What are you working on, Seto?" Joey asked bluntly. He had had enough patient waiting; he wanted to know what was so important that it was worth neglecting their vacation for.

Seto sighed. He knew that it was unfair to Jou to keep him in the dark about his project, especially when it was eating up so much of their leisure time. "Remember when you told me about Pegasus' journal? You said the reason behind everything he did was his desire to create a holographic body for your mother's soul."

Joey nodded rotely. The implications of Seto's response eluded him for a moment, but his eyes went wide when they finally sank in. "You're creating a body for my mother? But…but, Seto…"

"I realize Pegasus doesn't have the Millennium Eye, Jou. He and I have discussed this, though, and we think…"

"Wait a minute! Are you saying that you and my father have been working on this together? Without killing each other?" Jou was stunned, though whether this feeling was due to shock at the idea of Seto and Pegasus collaborating on anything or surprise at being kept in the dark for so long, he had no idea.

"Jou, I didn't want you to get your hopes up," Seto explained hastily. "I didn't want you to know about it until I had finished the program, but Pegasus did, and after last night, I didn't want to keep it from you any longer..." He trailed off, pinching the bridge of his nose to ward off an oncoming stress headache.

"But Pops doesn't have the Millennium Eye; you said it yourself. If he can't bring back her soul, what's the point?" Jou said.

"That's where you come in," replied Seto, relief that Jou didn't seem to be absolutely livid with him suffusing his being.

"Huh? What can I do?" The more Seto was telling him, the more confused Joey was becoming. _I almost wish I'd never asked..._

"Pegasus and I believe that Yugi may be able to bring back Cecelia's soul," Seto said calmly, ignoring the shock on Jou's face, "and I believe that he would do anything within his power for you." A great sadness replaced relief as Seto's predominate emotional state, and he crushed Jou to his chest with a great, heaving exhalation. "Do you have any idea how fortunate you are to have so many people in your life who would do so much for you?"

Though Jou had been confused for the rest of the conversation, Seto's loneliness reached him loud and clear. He stroked the strong back beneath his hands reassuringly as he spoke, the vibration of his voice against Seto's chest nearly driving the brunet insane. "You've got me, dragon master. I'd do anything for you, and so would Mokuba."

"I know." Had it been anyone but Seto in his arms, Jou would have said that he was about to burst into tears. "Thank you, Jou."

He was cut off by Jou's soft, gentle kiss. "So, you want me to convince Yugi to use the Millennium Puzzle to retrieve my mother's soul from the Shadow Realm?" Joey asked as their lips separated, hoping he'd gotten the basic principle of the matter down.

"Yes, Jou. I wasn't going to tell anyone until I had the program finished, though, so Yugi has no idea about any of it."

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to ask Yugi if he thought he could, or was even willing to try pulling this off before sinking so much time and energy into it?" What started out as a simple question became a reprimand as Jou's irritation escalated with each word. "You know, you're going to make yourself sick working so hard. This is supposed to be a vacation!"

"Jou, I wanted to surprise you with this." Seto smirked half-heartedly. "Apparently, I was successful."

Tears stung Joey's eyes as he realized that his dragon master was working so hard for the sole purpose of making him happy. "I'm sorry, baby blue eyes," he apologized softly. "I've just really missed you.

Seto smiled and nuzzled the blond's head with his cheek, basking in the quiet moment before releasing him. "I've missed you too. More than you can possibly know."

Jou beamed, wanting nothing more than to spend the rest of their vacation making up for lost time with his boyfriend. For the moment, though, he had more important things to take care of. "I'll go talk to Yugi, okay?"

"Fine," replied Seto, but it was clear that something else was still bothering him. "Would you do something else for me?"

Jou grinned, "Anything."

"Do you know where Mokuba is?" Images of Bakura looming over his little brother's unconscious form assaulted Seto's mind, and he forced himself to wait for Jou's answer before going insane.

"That's easy," said his lover, still grinning. "I asked him to get Tristan up."

"I don't like it that Pegasus doesn't want to confront Bakura. What's more, I hate it that it endangers my brother; the only reason I tolerate it is because Pegasus is more familiar with this Millennium magic crap." Seto sighed wearily. "I want you to tell Tristan about Bakura. If he's helping you keep an eye on Mokuba, maybe I can get some work done." One glance at the especially chaotic disaster that had once been his library drew another sigh from the dragon master.

Jou nodded, but lingered in the room a few moments longer. "Are you sure you're okay, Seto? You're acting kind of strange."

Seto smiled. "I'm better now, Pup, and I'll be better still once I know Mokuba's safe."

"Okay. I'll go see what the rest of those bums are up to." Jou grinned as he left Seto to his work, confident that his lover would accomplish his task with his sanity intact.

On his way to find Tristan and Mokuba, he gathered his new painting supplies, feeling self-conscious about their price even as he admired their quality. His quest was mercifully short, as both Mokuba and Tristan were helping Serenity to build an elaborate sandcastle on the beach when he walked outside to drop off his rather cumbersome cargo. Serenity looked like she'd given up on drawing in favor of sculpting, and Jou smiled at her even as he noticed Bakura lounging on the deck, completely absorbed in the picture he was drawing.

Joey glanced at Bakura's picture in passing, immediately wishing he hadn't. The dark spirit had conjured a hideous obelisk of a monster onto the paper, composed of screaming, agonized faces and jangled limbs bent into odd shapes. To Joey, it seemed as though the tormented beings were attempting to escape the confines of the artist's warped imagination, and the mere idea of such an occurrence sent a shudder down his back.

Tearing his attention from the drawing, Jou got his hands on a bucket, filled it with water, and got Tristan's attention by threatening to douse the sandcastle. His just reward was a scolding from all three sculptors and being chased down the beach by Tristan. To his credit, Jou managed to hold onto the bucket, but ended up getting tackled from behind and taking an early morning saltwater shower before he could bring it into play and do the same thing to his friend. Tristan seemed satisfied with this poetic justice, and Jou's amber gaze followed him back towards the sandcastle as he walked towards it, both boys laughing hysterically. Since Jou's arrival, Croquet had appeared, and was apparently giving Serenity and Mokuba architectural suggestions as he paced around the castle. It suddenly struck Joey how familiar the castle on the beach seemed, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

Deciding that it wasn't important, he smiled up at his perturbed and panting pal instead. "Hey, did you get kicked out of your room for snoring?"

Tristan frowned and crouched down in front of Jou, glancing apprehensively at Bakura. "No, I left. You wouldn't believe--"

"He's not Ryou Bakura, is he, Tris?" Jou also stole a glance at the albino boy, knowing just how sharp were the daggers behind those deceivingly placid eyes.

"How'd you know?" Tristan's brow furrowed in surprise; it wasn't like Jou to figure things out so quickly.

"I had a dream last night. He was floating about a foot above the bed, and the Millennium Ring was glowing as bright as day," Jou explained. "Doesn't take Seto to figure it out."

Tristan snorted. "I always knew you were only playing dumb all these years," he said before dragging Jou to his feet and leading him further away from the house, and Bakura. "Come on, man. Let's go talk somewhere we don't have to worry about being overheard. I don't trust Yami Bakura as far as I could throw him." Tristan frowned in thought, "Probably not that far."

"Good idea," said Jou, following willingly.

On the deck, Bakura turned to stare at their retreating backs, ignoring the pull of the spires embedded in his chest. _Perhaps Pegasus' whelp is more dangerous than I had bargained for,_ he thought, turning back to his drawing with a satisfied smirk. _Shame to let the Reaper have such a pretty specimen, but I don't suppose it can be helped._

Angry lines began to shoot through his hellish version of the Shadow Realm, piercing vital areas on the vaguely human forms. _Enjoy your last day on this plane, foolish child, _snickered the dark spirit of the Ring as he drew a particularly dark slash through the chest of one of the more prominent humanoid figures. _Pleasant memories will keep you suffering that much longer._

…….

Several minutes later, Tristan returned to helping with the sandcastle while Jou settled in beside his father, who had slipped in unnoticed with his bodyguard. As Jou began to collect the supplies strewn across the deck, he noticed that Pegasus was painting the scene in front of them. In open admiration, he watched Tristan, Serenity and Mokuba appear on the canvas, frozen forever in the act of building their sandcastle. The ocean made the perfect background, and at length Jou noticed Croquet standing slightly apart from the others. Had Jou not known the subjects of the painting, he would have thought it chronicled a father spending a summer day with his children. The thought of his Uncle Chris as a father made Jou smirk; he could just imagine the man trailing his youngsters in silence, his mere stalwart presence enough to curb any thoughts of mischief making.

"Good morning, Joseph." Pegasus smiled at his son, partly in greeting and partly in amusement at having caught him in the act of staring at his painting.

"Morning, Pops." Jou grinned back, but quickly sobered up. "Hey, I wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened last night… I mean, when I suggested team dueling…"

"It's quite all right, Joseph. You needn't apologize for Kaiba-boy's behaviour." The silver-haired artist dipped his brush into a canister of cobalt paint, trailing it along the ocean's border lines until the grey seam between the image of the beach and that of the water was invisible.

Joey paused midway through setting up his own canvas and paints, shaking his head vigorously. "I wasn't apologizing for Seto, Father. I was the one to blame; I didn't think about what I was saying before I said it."

Pegasus sighed. He had quite enough with which to concern himself without worrying about his son's love life, but Joseph simply couldn't take the all the blame for Kaiba's insensitivity. After all, even had his lover been at fault, the CEO could have bowed out gracefully. "Joseph, it wasn't your fault. It was an entirely reasonable idea."

"No, it was," insisted Jou. "I should have known how he would react; he can be so stubborn. But... he hated Yugi at first too, and I thought that, since he duelled with him against Umbra and Lumis, maybe he might start to change his mind about you over a duel..." He sighed. "Guess it was a long shot, huh?" he said as he sat down in front of his easel, trying to decide what to paint. The image of Bakura's too graphic artwork taunted him, reminding him of the discoveries made during the night and making him wonder what had happened to Ryou, and the worry naturally coloured his concentration.

He was so deep in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Pegasus' absence from his chair until the older man rested a strong hand on his son's shoulder. "Kaiba-boy could learn much from your optimism and capacity to forgive, Joseph. It was very noble of you to even entertain such a notion."

Though his father's words didn't completely nullify the sting of failure, they definitely numbed it. "Thanks, Pops," Jou said, favouring Pegasus with a brilliant smile as he snapped up his paintbrush, his former indecision and uncertainty a thing of the past.

As Pegasus watched, Seto's image appeared on the canvas, staring out haughtily at the viewer as he leaned against a tree, a veritable forest serving as a necessarily submissive background. Joseph painted his lover exactly as he was, tough and hard with no soft edges, and yet somehow still managed to capture the inner beauty and power of a unique man set apart by his rare gifts. If one were to look closely enough into the narrowed blue pools, Seto's sadness and loneliness were almost heart-wrenchingly plain to see.

Croquet paused on his way to the house, looking over Max's shoulder at Joseph's canvas. "Hmph."

Joey looked up, startled out of adding soft auburn tones to his beloved's dark hair. "What?"

"You take after your father," Chris pronounced flatly, as though he were announcing Jou's doom.

"Huh?" Confusion only heightened his son's endearing charm, Pegasus decided.

"Christopher, be nice," Max admonished gently, unable to bite back a low chuckle.

"Be nice, Sir? All I said was that he takes after you." Croquet said with mock defensiveness, maintaining his innocence.

"Yes, and what you meant was that he's become a hopeless romantic," Pegasus elaborated.

Jou's eyes flicked back and forth between the two men as they bantered, and he was becoming more puzzled by the second until Seto's words echoed in his mind. _'You don't suppose…that they have something going on?'_ Dismissively, incredulously, the blond shook his head, but neither of his two companions noticed.

"And?" Croquet raised an eyebrow, recognizing that he was trapped.

"And you were on your way to fix lunch, weren't you?" Pegasus reminded him innocuously.

"Yes, Sir." Croquet nodded to each of them as he entered the house.

No sooner than the back door had closed than Serenity was charging up the steps to the deck. "Did Croquet just go inside to make lunch?" she asked.

Jou nodded as he returned to his painting. At least among his brush and colour, he was safe. "Yep, just now."

"Thank you," she said sweetly, stalking into the house. "Mr. Croquet, you promised I could help you today!" Her voice held a note that could almost have been described as whiny, and both Pegasus and Joey snickered softly as they listened from their places on the deck through the open kitchen window. Of all the items on the very long list of things Croquet could deal with reliably, teenage girls were not one of them.

Chris, true to form, was completely baffled by the girl. She was kind and considerate, yet could also be obstinate. This came as a shock to him, for he was the kind of man who either commanded the army or _was _thearmy, and, either way, answered only to the general himself. Serenity, on the other hand, was a young lady with the capacity to decimate the army with a single foul look, simply by evoking their innate humanity regardless of how many layers of armour they happened to be wearing. Croquet was completely at her mercy, reduced to an assistant chef in the kitchen he had commandeered just yesterday by a sweet little slip of a girl who had charmed him senseless. In some ways, she reminded him of Cecelia, and he had to wonder just how Pegasus managed to draw these butterflies to him.

__

Perhaps butterflies, at heart, crave chaos, he thought, and his moustache did a good job of hiding the soft smile that graced his lips at that idea. Certainly, his master had chaos to spare.

…….

Tea sat on the edge of an armchair in the living room, tensed for a quick escape should anything become the slightest bit more uncomfortable than it already was. At the moment, Yami had separated from Yugi again, and each person in the room was weathering the anxious silence, waiting for someone else to speak. Each had different reasons for perpetuating this strained atmosphere, of course; Yugi was obviously embarrassed, and Yami inability to cope seamlessly with the modern age had stolen his confidence in this matter.

Finally, she broke the silence herself, sick of the suspense. "Why is this so hard? We shouldn't be afraid to talk to each other! How long have we been friends, and through how much hardship?"

Yugi looked from Tea to Yami and back again. His other half had gotten them into this beyond-delicate situation, but now he was as tight-lipped as the Sphinx, waiting for Yugi to fix it. "I'm sorry if I seemed insensitive on the beach, Tea. I just …well, I'm used to talking to Yami in my head, and yesterday, I was pretty busy with everything else. I didn't mean to make it seem like I wanted to talk to him more than I did you."

Tea smiled, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I know, Yugi. I'm sorry too. I overreacted."

"Okay…uh, so…" It was a struggle to find the right words; Yugi had expected the beach fiasco to take a while to smooth over, and as such hadn't decided what aspect of the problem to tackle first.

"Aibou? Tea?" Yami interrupted, his voice quiet and far beyond serious. "I, too, am sorry, for being so presumptuous."

"It's okay, Yami. You just startled me last night," Tea admitted. The episode with Yami was the least of her concerns at this point, and had been since she had begun to seriously contemplate the possibility of a three-way relationship. "But…I thought…I was afraid...," she trailed off, blushing slightly. "Maybe you guys wanted to date each other, and that you just wanted me around so that no one would know you were…together."

Yugi and Yami exchanged nearly identical surprised glances. "Uh…Tea…I think…well, I _know _I'm straight, and I think Yami is too. At least, we've never thought of each other that way." He raised his eyebrows at the pharaoh, and his expression told his near-twin that if he wished to contradict his statement, now was the time.

"No, we don't feel that way about each other," Yami confirmed, laying Yugi's fears to rest. The pharaoh hesitated before he spoke again, not wanting to pressure Tea, but unable to deny the hope he felt. "I take it from this line of questioning that you have considered what we spoke of last night?"

"You really want me to date both of you?" Tea's eyes widened in shock. It was her turn to be dumbfounded; she had seriously expected the entire thing to be a cover-up for their own narcissistic desires.

"I'm being too bold again. Forgive me." The pharaoh lowered his eyes submissively, his long lashes concealing his obvious disappointment.

"I think this is just a little sudden for all of us, Yami." Yugi said in consolation, recognizing Yami's misinterpretation of Tea's reply.

"Yet it is quite obvious that you care very much for each other. Maybe it is I who should... 'butt out'." Yami replied.

"No, Yami, I didn't mean…" Tea was suddenly at a loss for words. She twisted her hands together in frustration; things were degenerating quickly, and it was all because of her indecisiveness.

"Yami is right, Tea. I do care a lot about you. I just, well, I didn't how to tell you. Of course, Yami and I are like two versions of the same person, so I wouldn't mind if you dated both of us." Yugi's face was the same deep crimson of Yami's eyes as he continued. "If you're okay with that, I mean."

Tea smiled and nodded, much more comfortable now that Yugi was there with her and Yami. "Okay. It's unusual, but then again, so are you guys."

Yugi smiled brightly, first at her and then at Yami, who nodded his agreement. "May I return to my soul room now, aibou?" The pharaoh was more than a little drained from all the recent developments concerning both Tea and Bakura.

"Sure," Yugi agreed amicably, his anger with the pharaoh for letting the cat out of the bag fast turning into an all-consuming gratitude.

Once Yami had disappeared, though, he and Tea were left with an awkward silence. Eventually, though, he gathered enough courage to speak. "One thing bothers me, though…"

"What's that?" Tea asked, tilting her head unconsciously.

"He got to kiss you first," Yugi pouted.

Tea smiled, relieved that for once, the problem could be so easily solved. "Look at it this way, Yugi. You get to kiss me last."

She slid to the floor gracefully, tucking her long, slender legs beneath her. Yugi leaned down over her from his place on the couch, violet pools taking in her softly contoured face, her starry blue eyes, her rosebud lips, committing every detail to memory. Uncertainly, he touched his lips to hers, encouraged when she didn't hesitate and instead drew him closer in a tender embrace.

When they broke the kiss and Yugi found his voice again, he said, " Wow, maybe Yami had a reason for being impatient for us to get together."

In mock irritation, Tea leaned back, placing her hands on her hips. "Hmph. Is that all I am to you; a sex object?"

Horror settled over Yugi's face, and he sputtered for words that could fix the imagined slight. "I-I didn't mean it l-like that..."

Her finger across his lips silenced him. "Yugi, you're way too sensitive," she laughed as she pulled him down from his lofty perch, forcefully imprisoning his lips with her own once more.

……..

That afternoon, Pegasus and Croquet stayed behind at the beach house while the teenagers went to Shell Beach for their surfing lessons. Pegasus had returned to his painting of the beach scene as soon as he could, eager to finish it, while Croquet toured the perimeter of Sandcastle Pegasus.

A few adjustments here, thought the salt-and-pepper haired man as heknelt beside the structure, applying more sand to the thinnest tower, and there_. Perfect._

His satisfied smile quickly became a frown as Max's hysterical laughter reached his ears, and piercing grey eyes narrowed beneath dark shades. "Am I missing out on something extremely entertaining, Sir?" he asked dryly.

Pegasus tried to get a grip on himself, but being reminded of Chris' peculiar tendency to address him as 'Sir' even when they were alone made him laugh even harder. Fortunately for him, Chris was patient enough and familiar enough with his master's outbursts to allow him the chance to compose himself before pressing for a reply once more.

At length, the silver-haired man's laughter subsided, and he walked across the beach to rest his elegant hands on his lover's shoulders. "Oh, Christopher, you are absolutely delectable," he said, gently kissing away the older man's slight frustration.

Croquet allowed himself to languish in the sensation of Max's lips on his before pulling away. "Hmph… be that as it may, Maximillion, would you care to explain just what you were carrying on about?" Though one would never know it from his tone, Chris' harshness was melting with great alacrity, and this fact had little to do with the heat of the midday sun.

Pegasus snickered once more, the image flooding back into the foreground of his memory at Chris' words. "You were doing a security patrol of a sandcastle…," was all he managed to get out before he collapsed into another fit of laughter.

Croquet's brow furrowed, and he took advantage of his boss' temporary indisposition to attempt a quick escape into the house.

"Chris, just where do you think you are going?" It was Max's turn to frown; how dare Croquet spoil his fun?

"To the house," Croquet replied, patiently stating the obvious.

Pegasus sighed. Though he adored Christopher, the man had a tendency to take things far too literally. "One of my eyes still functions perfectly well, Chris. Why are you going to the house?"

The bodyguard cleared his throat before elaborating. "As far as I know, a suit is not appropriate jogging attire, unless of course one is in pursuit of 'bad guys'."

An impish gleam with which he was all too familiar took shape in Max's eye at these words, and though he knew he would never reach his running shoes, he felt obliged to at least make a show of resistance to entertain his boss. Abruptly, he whirled and sprinted half-heartedly for the backdoor, fully hoping Pegasus would catch him before he reached his destination.

He had gained the deck before Pegasus' arms encircled his waist. Far too sure of himself, his employer attempted to use his weight to force Chris down, and his surprise was clearly etched on his face when Chris simply rolled with it. "I think I'm going to enjoy this, Sir," the all-too-willing prisoner said, favouring his master with a rare, brilliant grin.

In return, Pegasus loosed a sound that fell somewhere between a growl and a laugh. "Why, you! If I didn't know better, Christopher, I'd swear you had been planning this all along!" He plucked the shades from Chris' face, making it far easier to ascertain what the grey-eyed man was thinking, and was rewarded by a deeply loving gaze that was lost to him far too soon as Chris closed the distance between their lips.

Lost in the moment, all Max could do was sigh blissfully into his protector's mouth. It was indeed a rare treat when Christopher dominated him, and he rather enjoyed the change of pace. Casually, he draped one bare leg over Chris' and buried his hands in the thick, greying hair while his lover was occupied with plundering his mouth. Their tongues danced in a sweet, leisurely ballet, the product of new love's urgent passion tempered by an intimate, eternal commitment.

The moment was shattered, however, when Croquet pulled away, considering his duty done. Without a word, he rose to his feet, straightened his suit, and continued on his way into the house, as though nothing had transpired.

Pegasus glared at Croquet's back, his playfulness quickly vanishing into a haze of anger. Angrily, he strode across the beach, kicking off his sandals and throwing his white shirt carelessly onto the sand, not caring how dirty it became. Clad only in his tan khaki shorts, he continued walking until he was waist deep in ocean water before diving under the waves as gracefully as a native of the sea.

Moments later, Chris returned to the deck in his favorite jogging shorts and running shoes, and panic immediately flashed through his normally calm heart. _Where the hell is he? _ Then, he caught sight of the discarded sandals and shirt, and followed Max's trail to the edge of the water. Perhaps a swim would be preferable to a jog... he thought, stripping out of everything but his shorts even as he scanned the water for any sign of his boss.

His anxiety level peaked once again when he failed to catch sight of Pegasus instantly. Visions began to fly through his head, terrible images of underwater currents and suicidal tendencies. It wasn't that he believed Max would really try to kill himself; not now, anyway, having just reunited with his son and on the verge of reclaiming his wife. Still, logic was powerless to pacify panic, and Croquet waded out until he was knee-deep in water, becoming more frantic with every step.

"Did you lose something?" a deep, amused voice called out to him from the beach.

Christopher sighed in relief, making his way to the outcropping of rocks where Pegasus lounged. His feet stirred the water slightly, and tiny streams from his dripping hair mapped out the topography of his chest. _God, he's beautiful. Please let me keep him. _"Not at all, Sir. It simply seems to be a good day for a swim."

"For crying out loud, Christopher!" Pegasus nearly snarled in his frustration. "The children aren't here, yet you seem intent on wasting our opportunity to have some fun with inane chatter." He paused, composing himself once again. "There is something I should like you to lose."

Chris felt his face heat up despite himself as Max's eye roamed over his form, suddenly self-conscious in his jogging shorts. Quickly, he moved to sit behind his employer on the rock, preventing Max from noticing the errant blush as he gathered his lover's silken strands of hair in his calloused hands, finger combing them back into place. "And that would be?"

"Your inhibitions," Max declared imperially, suddenly aware of the complete mastery he could wield over Christopher, should he choose to exercise it.

Croquet's moustache twitched involuntarily. "Sir?"

"You simply have far too much self-control, Christopher. I think it long overdue that you lose it, if only around me." Pegasus elaborated.

"My self-control?" Chris choked. Max may has well have told him to cut off one of his own hands. _Come to think of it, perhaps that would be more easily accomplished... _"Max, I think you've been out in the sun too long."

Pegasus leaned back against him, gazing intently into Chris' face. "I love you, Christopher, though I've seldom said the words. When I had the Millennium Eye, your rather formidable reserve was not a hindrance, for I could easily bypass it. Now, though, we may have little time left to us--"

Christopher took Max's chin in his hand and tipped his head back a little further, cutting off his explanation by uniting their lips once more, conveying through sensation what language could not. One hand trailed over the fine white hairs of Max's chest, and his lips left his lover's mouth in favour of exploring the long line of his neck.

Pegasus stopped the older man's wandering hand before it could reach his belt. Last night, it had been Chris who brought up the impending complication, and now he was using seduction to avoid conversation. When Max had spoken of Chris losing his inhibitions, he hadn't meant exclusively with regard to sex; the man was appallingly tightlipped about his emotions, and Max longed for the deeper intimacy they had known while he had possessed the Eye.

"Maximillion?"

"Hmph." Max sat up and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting slightly in irritation as Chris' hands fell away from him.

Croquet's lips curved into something as close to a real smile as anything else that had ever or would ever grace his lips. Because he had his back to Chris, however, Max missed it entirely. Truth be told, Chris was as intrigued by the challenge his master had set before him as he was with all things Pegasus. While part of his mind worked on deducing an reply that would satisfy his at-times moody lover, another part began to formulate ideas of payback for the many tortures that he had endured over the many years of being Max's near-constant companion. "Sir, is something troubling you?"

Max rose and stalked off as elegantly as he could, being that he was still wading in hip-deep water. A thousand tiny needles of pain stung his heart as it occurred to him that, although Chris had chosen to remain at his side, fulfilling the dual role of protector and lover, he would always be closed off to him emotionally. Perhaps it was his fault, for demanding so much of Christopher while offering so little in return, but he would never accept their private relationship becoming another service Croquet provided for him. The mere thought of Chris being reduced to his full-time prostitute filled him with an agony that outstripped anything else he had experienced since Cecelia's death. If their relationship could not continue, he would have to send Chris away once again, and this time it would have to be for good.

The sight that met his eyes as he rounded the outcropping of rock jarred him from his bleak reverie and stole the breath from his lungs. He had stumbled on a small, hidden cove, cut off from the rest of the world by a rock wall encircling three sides and the relentlessly advancing ocean shielding the fourth. The sandbar would disappear when the tide came in, but at the moment, it was the perfect lovers' hideaway.

Croquet realized too late that Max was in an overly sensitive mood. When the silver-haired man had left him, his movements had been taunting, provoking Chris to pursuit. Now, they were stiff and defensive, a switch which greatly confused the normally affable bodyguard. Chris was torn between wanting to throttle Max for his intricate mood shifts, leaving him alone to ponder his too-deep thoughts, and gathering Max into his arms in order to protect him from himself. Rather than waste any energy striking a compromise between the three warring sides, he opted for a fourth choice, and swam a full quarter of a mile out from the shore. When he came back, he too discovered the cove, where Max was stretched out in the sand like a lazy, sunbathing cat. Croquet's moustache twitched mischievously, and he stripped off his impromptu swimming trunks beneath the water. With the silent stealth of one who has lived his life in the approximation of invisibility, he began to approach his prey.

He came up stealthily on Max's blind side, watching his master intently for the slightest indication that he was aware of his presence. Max remained motionless, however, his surviving eye closed in apparent slumber. Encouraged, Chris advanced, waiting until he was standing directly over his favourite sun-worshipper before taking his soggy shorts and wringing them out over the unsuspecting man's chest.

"Arggh!" Max cried out, startled by the abrupt, rude, and extremely chilly shower.

Chris snickered, the noise eventually evolving into a laugh that was slightly creaky from disuse. Max didn't know what had shocked him more; the shower or the noise escaping from his stoic lover's throat. "Christopher! You're laughing! I haven't heard you laugh since…," Max frowned in an effort to remember, "I don't remember when!"

Chris sobered up instantly. "Nor do I remember the last time I saw such an expression on your face, Sir." He sat down beside Max in the sand, tracing the angular planes of Max's face beneath rough fingers before leaning in to kiss him lightly. "I love you, Maximillion, though the price of my passion will ultimately be pain, and endless yearning my only gain. Still, though, I will love you in the depth of my silence as no other ever will, through all the quiet years yet to come."

Tears streaked the right side of Pegasus' face. Had he really thought that, after all this time, Chris could love him with less than his whole soul, or that he could possibly manage life without the taciturn man? So complete was his foolishness that he couldn't help but laugh at himself.

"Christopher, while I truly hope that circumstances do not become so dire for either of us, shall we make the most of the time we presently possess?" Max caressed the inside of Chris' gloriously bare, muscled thigh. "Thank you for consenting to share all that you are with me."

"Even the occasional roll in the sand, Sir?" Chris cocked a devilish eyebrow at his master, shifting his position so that his tanned, glistening body caught the sun's rays that much more enticingly.

"Even that," Pegasus agreed, his laugh swallowed by Croquet as fast as it escaped his mouth.

……….

Seto mastered the waves easily, as though he had been born for no other purpose. His study of martial arts served him well, giving his lean body perfect balance and control. Perhaps he was too talented for his own good, though; Tristan and Bakura quickly came to the conclusion that Seto's grace was making them look bad, and so began conspiring to knock him off his board and, in the process, teach the Ice King a few things about humility.

The dragon master was so enthralled with his newfound skill that he failed to notice that Jou's instructor was spending far more time hitting on his boyfriend than she was teaching him anything. Joey flirted innocently with the curvaceous dark-eyed girl in return, skilfully parrying her advances with practiced vagaries. As for the rest of the group, Serenity and Mokuba were the only ones learning anything; Yugi and Tea were completely lost in each other, and Serenity doubted they even remembered their instructor's name. _Oh, well. Good for them, anyway._

A few minutes later, Seto trudged up the beach, dragging his surfboard up the beach and looking for all the world like a drowned rat. If he had had any doubts whatsoever about getting rid of Bakura before, he certainly wanted to now, regardless of what Pegasus said. The white-haired-whatever-he-was was a menace, plain and simple, and to make things worse, he was brainwashing Jou's friends as part of a scheme to drive Kaiba insane before he could turn his distant dreams of a Bakura-free vacation into reality.

His already dark stare became a full-blown glower when he noticed Jou's pretty instructor pawing his puppy. A growl began to boil up in his throat, and Seto stalked up to where they were standing and stiffly introduced himself to the interloper. "Hello. I'm Seto Kaiba." He debated including the fact that he and Jou were lovers, but held back at the last minute. In addition to the fact that he wanted to size up the competition, as it were, embarrassing Jou might have dire consequences in the near future.

"Hi! I'm Tiffani," she responded brightly as she leaned against Jou's shoulder, oblivious to the death glare that would have frozen any intelligent human being to the spot instantly. It took a few moments of silence, broken only by the near-constant snapping of her chewing gum, for the name to register with her. "Hey, are you related to the Kaiba Corp Kaibas or anything?"

Joey couldn't help but snicker at her idiocy. Even if Seto's face hadn't been plastered everywhere during the Battle City tournament, his boyfriend was definitely more than a local celebrity. _And people think I'm dumb. _"He _is _the Kaiba Corp Kaiba."

"Really!" Tiffani squealed. "Kaiba Corp makes, like, the best games ever! Oh, my God, wait until I tell my little brother that I got to meet you! He'll be _sooo_ jealous!"

Seto's jealous glare quickly turned to an expression of pure, unadulterated horror as the girl withdrew her talons from Jou and began advancing on him. "Uh…Jou…?" he said, backing up a few paces and fighting the temptation to hide behind his boyfriend.

Obligingly, Joey inserted himself between Seto and the surfing instructor. "Tif, trust me, Seto's not your type." Seeing the crestfallen look on Tiffani's face, he quickly offered her something along the lines of a compromise. "Hey, maybe you can bring your brother along tomorrow to meet the great and mighty CEO? You wouldn't mind, would ya, Seto?" He turned his back to Tiffani, winking one entrancing eye at his lover.

Tiffani brightened considerably at this comment, and the sound of her gum snapping returned with her cheerful mood. "Sure thing! He'd love that! Thanks, Joey!" She kissed the blond on the cheek, and Seto's face turned three shades of red, all of them murderous. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, then?" Without waiting for an answer, she trotted off, and the minute she was out of earshot, Seto's arms went around Jou possessively, the dragon master relishing in his delicious prey's squeak of surprise.

"What did you just get me into?" Seto breathed against his ear.

Joey shuddered in his arms, and this tangible proof that he was having an effect on his lover made Seto cling to him that much tighter. "I was thinking we'd introduce her brother to Mokuba, and Mokuba can tell them all about Kaiba Corp while you show me some of those moves you were doing out there."

"I'll show you some moves right now, Pup. Best of all, they don't require a surfboard." Seto's playful nip at his ear was more a promise than a threat.

………

In the Shadow Realm, a melancholy Ryou waited for the waning light of Cecelia's soul to be extinguished completely. She had regained some of her strength for a brief time, but her condition was once again degenerating with every moment that passed. At the moment, he was sitting outside her colorful pavilion, writing in the dirt with a stick. It gave him something to do other than watch her form become more and more transparent.

__

Forever together,

Forever apart,

Light loving darkness,

Dark hating light.

Broken souls

Brought together,

Made whole.

Why did Bakura hate him so? Enviously, he considered Yami and Yugi's relationship; the proud, millennium-old pharaoh bowing to the will of half-pint Yugi, protecting him from both modern dangers and ancient Shadow magic, accepting his host as he was. Perhaps if he were stronger, Ryou would have been able to win Bakura's respect, if not his affection.

__

Perhaps if I were stronger, I would be able to save Cecelia. He was certain of only one thing in his despair; he would not be able to continue in such a meaningless existence alone. Without Cecelia's calming, motherly influence, he would lapse into a pit of self-condemnation, and non-existence was preferable to this eventuality by far.

How would he do it, though? It wasn't like he had a body to stab, or shoot, or poison... he would have enter the Graveyard, and seek out the fearsome Reaper of the Cards. Yes, that would mean that Bakura would hold his body, uncontested, but Ryou was certain that Yami would be able to stop whatever diabolical plot the dark spirit of the Ring had in the works.

__

No one will miss this one little mouse, he thought sorrowfully as he threw the stick into the dirt, obscuring his writings as he turned back to the pavilion where Cecelia's soul was being devoured by the Shadows.

The moment she was no more, he would put his grim plan into action.

……..

By the time that the sunburned teenagers returned to the beach house, it was already late afternoon. Oddly enough, the house was conspicuously unoccupied, and while Pegasus' painting supplies were still set up on the beach and the white Jag was in the driveway, there was no sign of either Pegasus or Croquet. This presented a golden opportunity for Seto, who craved going back to work like a junkie in need of a fix but also wanted to confirm his suspicions about Pegasus and his too-closely-attached shadow.

Of course, though, calming his worried mutt down took priority. "Jou, I'm sure they're fine. They probably just went for a walk, so why don't you help Serenity get supper together while I check the beach out?"

"Nah. Seto, I'm coming with you," Joey objected, shaking his head stubbornly. "I'm worried about Pops with everything that's been going on," he explained in a whisper, though they were the only ones remaining on the deck.

"Suit yourself." Seto shrugged, secretly glad for the company.

They walked along the rocks for close to twenty minutes without finding any sign of either billionaire or bodyguard. Seto was beginning to hope that he might finally be rid of his nemesis, but one look at Jou's fretful face made him sigh guiltily. "One thing I do know about your father, Jou, is that he's like a bad penny," he said, attempting to comfort his lover by throwing an arm across his shoulders as they walked.

"Huh?" He needn't have bothered saying anything; Jou's anxiety had sent him into a near-hypnotic trance.

"He always comes back," Seto said. "Besides, it's not like Croquet would let anything happen to him."

"But what if something happened to Croquet?" Joey asked, biting his lip as he wrapped his own arm around Seto's waist, leaning against his boyfriend for support.

On the other side of the rocks, their voices reached an uncharacteristically unprepared Croquet. He and Max had fallen asleep in the shade of the outcropping, curled up together like small children, and the growing shadows told him they had been out far longer than he had intended.

"Look, Jou, if they want to sneak off and screw each other's brains out, that's their business!" Kaiba had raised his voice sometime during the conversation, and the sound filtering through the rock wall between him and Croquet carried a note of exasperation.

"What?" Joey yelled back. He was still painfully oblivious to their relationship, and Croquet wondered just how long Seto had known before attempting to make his own lover aware of the situation.

The noise had brought Pegasus around by then, and he gave Chris a puzzled, displeased look. At least Jou and Kaiba couldn't see them, but he harboured no delusions about how long it would take the latter's genius brain to think of looking behind the outcropping of rock that shielded them.

As though he had been reading his protector's mind, he whispered, "Kaiba-boy figured it out while we were still in New York. I'm actually surprised he hasn't let Joseph in on it sooner."

"So am I," replied the older man, rummaging around in the sand for his shorts.

On the other side of the rock wall, Joey felt like the wind had suddenly gone out of his sails. His shock was so complete that he dropped to his knees in the sand, and Seto felt a flash of worry go through his own heart. _That's what was going on last night. Seto tried to tell me... could I really be that dense, or was I just in denial?_

"B-but…" Jou stammered, at a loss to form coherent syllables.

Seto sat down beside him, taking one of his hands. "I know. I don't get it either, especially since everything he's done was because he wanted your mother back." He paused, considering an alternate explanation. "Maybe it's just sex."

Jou shook his head vehemently. "No. Father isn't that superficial."

"Are you okay, Jou?" Seto kissed his lover's forehead. "I'm sorry for springing that on you."

Joey smiled into the kiss, squeezing Seto's hand. "I'm just surprised, though I shouldn't be. You tried to tell me last night, didn't you?"

Seto nodded, but his attention was drawn to the waves, where the objects of their quest were wading to the shore. Jou followed his gaze, cringing inwardly; he really didn't want to confront his father in this state. "Hi, Pops," he said dejectedly, powerless to even simulate his usual, cheerful tone. "How was your afternoon?"

"It was very nice, Joseph. Did you enjoy surfing?" Even as he spoke, Pegasus' eye silently met Kaiba's, asking how his son really was. Seto ignored him; it was obvious that Joseph was both confused and hurt, and most probably felt betrayed by his father's silence.

"Yeah, it was fun." Jou's eyes had lost their glittering enthusiasm for life; all he wanted was to crawl into bed and wish the entire world away.

"Sir, I should be seeing about supper." Croquet interjected quietly, realizing that he was only perpetuating the situation.

Pegasus nodded absently as Seto rose, taking his cue from Croquet. " I'm going to get cleaned up," he began but Joey still clung to his hand, unwilling to be left alone. He frowned, kneeling down to whisper to his dragon-pup. "You need this time to work it out with your father, on even terms. It's unfair if I remain after Croquet has gone."

"Okay," the blond replied, realizing the truth of his lover's words.

Seto reclaimed his hand from Jou's grip, kissing his lips chastely. "I'll see you in a while. Good luck."

"Thanks." Silence reigned between the remaining two men on the beach until both Seto and Croquet were far out of earshot. "I guess now I know how Serenity felt when Tristan blurted out to her that I was gay," said Jou at length, speaking around a deep intake of breath.

"Joseph, I'm not gay," Pegasus said, trying not to sound defensive.

"Okay, you're bisexual." Jou shrugged, as though there were little difference.

"Perhaps," Pegasus admitted quietly, "although I tend not to think of it in those terms." He turned Joey's face toward his, staring into amber eyes that were so like his own, and yet so undeniably different. "Joseph, I have only ever loved two people in my life; your mother, of course, and that man who just left. My heart does not draw a line at their genders, but knows only that Christopher and Cecelia are rare and beautiful beings, whose empathy and courageous acceptance have kept me from being utterly alone in the world."

"What happens when Seto brings my mother back?" Joey asked, his voice small and forlorn.

"I don't know, son," Max said truthfully. Jou leaned against him, exhaling softly, and the silver-haired artist stroked his hair affectionately.

"At least I know I come by my insanity honestly," Jou said into his chest, his lips curving into a lopsided grin.

Pegasus laughed aloud, pulling Jou to his feet as he stood. "A shower, clean clothes, and a good meal sound rather nice, do they not?"

"Uh huh, but it's going to take you most of the night just to comb out your hair, Pops."

"Really, Joseph, I do wish you would refrain from calling me that. It is most unbecoming." Max's words were meant to be a reprimand, yet he couldn't stop a tender, playful note from bleeding into them as they walked back towards the house.

……..

As soon as supper was over, Seto disappeared into the library once again, leaving Jou to drift aimlessly among his friends. The blond eventually managed to pry Yugi and Tea apart long enough to tell his spiky-haired friend about Seto and Pegasus' conspiracy to bring Cecelia back from the Shadow Realm, which inevitably led to a discussion of the more pressing problem that was Bakura. Yugi agreed with Pegasus, deciding that it was better to keep their enemy where they could see him, and promised to do whatever he could to help revive his mother.

"If Pegasus had just asked for what he wanted in the first place," the violet-eyed boy said, "we all could have saved a lot of time and energy, instead of having to go through the entire Duelist Kingdom ordeal."

As the sun set, bridging day and evening, life was as soothing as the rhythm of the waves hitting the beach. Eight of the nine vacationers had formed an oddly familial bond, in spite of rivalries and past misdeeds. Bakura, however, was growing weary of keeping up the constant charade, and had begun watching carefully for an opening to set his plans in motion.

__

If one doesn't come soon, I'll just have to create it, he decided.

Pegasus was painfully aware of Jou's pensive mood and longed for something to distract his son, but with Seto conspicuously absent, it would hardly be fitting to hold their little tournament. Instead, he suggested telling scary stories around a bonfire, an idea which the most of the assembled company all but jumped at.

"I can't believe you forgot to pack the Playstation," Tristan growled at Mokuba as they watched the others fight over who would get to tell the first story.

Croquet started them off with a chilling tale he had heard as a child in South America, his stern face and serious manner giving his story an appropriately morbid quality. Yugi and Tea alternated between snuggling and hiding under the blanket when a scary part came up, only peeking back out when they were sure that it was over.

Pegasus' tale, 'The Spectral Haunting of the Rabid, Man-Eating Funny Bunny,' had Serenity laughing until she cried in Tristan's arms. Mokuba went next, thankful for his brother's absence while he retold the story of his favourite horror movie. Seto had forbidden him to watch R-rated movies several months ago, after he'd gone through a particularly bad spell of having nightmares. The fact that Seto wasn't there held another fringe benefit for Mokuba as well; for once, he had Joey all to himself.

Once the storytelling was over, everyone but Jou and Bakura eventually drifted away from the bonfire. Joey was completely absorbed in his thoughts, ever so often sinking deeper into the protection the blanket around his shoulders offered against the cold ocean breezes.

Bakura watched the dejected blond from across the fire for a few moments. Not ten feet away sat little Jou, toy boy of corporate king Kaiba, son of pathetic Pegasus, and close friend of Millennium magic-wielding Motou, completely and utterly defenceless against his magical assaults. Normally, the annoying, loudmouthed boy wouldn't even figure into his plans, but the spirit reasoned quite correctly that everyone would be in a an uproar if anything should happen to Jou, and in that sort of frenzy, mistakes were inevitable.

He moved closer to Jou, noting with pleasure that the boy stiffened at his close proximity. "Kaiba is a real bastard…," he said, testing the waters.

Jou glared at him, but said nothing. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and he was beginning to feel that Seto was the only constant in his life. To hear someone insult his lover, even if that someone did happen to be a psychopathic, dangerous, centuries-old spirit, made him want to break their face.

"…an undeniably lucky bastard," Bakura finished, dropping any pretence of being Ryou and allowing his voice to become husky. "You made a perfect Flame Swordsman, Jou. All that rippling muscle and passionate fire... your beauty was stunning."

Joey stared into eyes as dark as the depths of Hell, the glozing lies making his own smoulder with rage. Quickly, he reached out and grabbed the chain around Bakura's neck. yanking the Millennium Ring from its hiding place. The spires of the Ring were tinted red where they had sunken into the evil spirit's chest, but Bakura seemed not to notice, and his formerly lustful grin turned into a deathly cold smile. "The mutt's not so dumb after all, it would seem."

"You are no friend of mine, Yami Bakura," Jou snarled. "What did you do with Ryou?"

Bakura leaned in close to him, whispering. "Here, let me show you."

He kissed Jou softly, seductively licking the golden blond's lips with a tiny flick of his tongue. He had known that Jou must taste sweet, but nothing prepared him for the taste of the boy's lips, so much like honey and yet infinitely sweeter. He could drown in such a pleasurable sensation, and quickly understood Kaiba's possessiveness.

__

Ah, well. All good things must come to an end. As Jou's surprise began to fade, and he struggled to get away, the Ring flashed once. Immediately, Jou's eyes glazed over, and he slumped against Ryou's stolen body, the warmth of the blood coursing through his veins the only indication that the blond was still alive.

Bakura left him laying by the quickly diminishing remains of the bonfire, not caring whether he froze to death or not. The message would be sent either way. "Soon, Yugi, I will take my prize," he whispered, striding confidently up toward the house as he tucked the Ring back into his shirt, the bite of the spires sinking into his flesh almost as delicious as the kiss he had stolen from Joey.


	38. Chapter 38 Dance With the Devil in the P...

****

Chapter 38: Dance with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight

Disclaimer: I haven't done this in a while, so here it goes….Although the story concept and the addition/alterations of certain character names are mine this is no way intended as an infraction upon the rights of those who actually own Yugioh and is done purely for fun at the demented whim of the authoress and not for monetary gain.

……..

****

Joey sat perfectly still, his eyes roaming over the chaotic, purplish-black environment. _Shadow Realm. Just great. Well, at least I know what happened to Ryou... if I can just get us out of here before Seto kills Bakura, we'll be set._

Ill-advisedly, Jou leapt to his feet, only to be forced back to the 'ground' by the overwhelming vertigo that washed over him. He had yet to realize that the 'ground' and the 'sky' were just as chaotic as everything else; he might as well have been blind for all the good his sight was doing him. What he needed was someone who knew how this place worked, but neither his father nor Yami were available to him just then.

The solution came to him suddenly, and Jou pulled his duelling deck from his back pocket, victoriously thrusting a card into the dead space over his head. "I summon the Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Jou called out into the nothingness.

Unfortunately for him, nothing was exactly what happened, and Joey grimaced in disappointment. _It was worth a try._

The sound of wings beating above him reached Jou's ears then, and he dove for cover, envisioning a swarm of bats worthy of being considered the eleventh plague of Egypt descending on him. He only dared to look up once he was sure that things had settled back to their former level of chaos, and semi-terrified amber met puzzled ruby.

Joey gave his dragon a sheepish grin before rising to pat the black snout. "Hi, old friend. I guess you kind of surprised me, which is pretty dumb. After all, I was the one that summoned you."

Red Eyes snorted in agreement, causing Jou to frown good-naturedly. "Hey, you don't have to agree!"

The dragon nuzzled his hand apologetically, and Jou stroked its powerful neck. "Okay, you're forgiven," he chuckled before becoming serious once again. "You wouldn't happen to know where to find my mother or Ryou, would you?" His dragon's presence had a calming effect on him, and Jou smiled at the thought that this obviously independent beast belonged to him. _Just like another dragon, only his eyes are blue. _"I'm really glad you're here, Red Eyes."

Red Eyes lowered its head, and confusion was plainly etched on Jou's handsome features in the moment before understanding dawned on him. "You want me to get on?" he asked incredulously, hoping that he was way off base. Though he trusted the Duel Monster with his life, a dragon wasn't exactly a Harley-Davidson. _I've never even been on a horse, unless you count the merry-go-round..._

His companion's snort contained a touch of irritation, and Jou sighed as he gingerly climbed onto the dragon's back, trying unsuccessfully to get a decent grip on the powerful, armour-plated neck and shoulders. "Alright, already. It's not like I do this every day, you know?" Once he was as settled as he could get, he took a deep breath, forcing himself to speak before he lost his nerve. "Okay, ready."

It wasn't long before the constant, steady rhythm of Red Eyes' powerful wings soothed Joey's fears, and he relaxed, enjoying the experience. How many people, after all, could claim to have ridden a dragon?

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Joey became aware that the Shadow Realm was not the barren wilderness he had believed it to be at first glance. The landscape was vague, but the odd hill and valley passed beneath them. Formless, unidentifiable creatures moved over the plains, and Jou shuddered, clinging to his beloved Duel Monster's neck even more tightly.

It seemed only moments later that the great dragon began its descent, landing gently near a pyramid emblazoned with the all-too familiar symbol of the Sennen Eye. Jou slid off of the dragon's back, hugging Red Eyes around the neck. "Thank you. You've always been there when I needed you, and I never had a chance to tell you how much I appreciate it."

"Oh, that's simply precious!" called a feminine voice, soon lapsing into a fit of innocent giggles.

Joey didn't recognize the newcomer right away; Red Eyes still occupied most of his limited attention span. "Dark Magician Girl?" he ventured at length.

The deceptively cutesy duel monster giggled again as she curtseyed, "At your service," she confirmed. "Lady Pegasus calls me Gina, and so may you, if you prefer that."

"Lady Pegasus?" Joey hardly dared to believe that finding his mother would be so easy. "Where is she? Could you take me to her?"

"Certainly," replied Gina, and before Jou had even caught his breath, she had extended her staff. The next thing he knew, he was blinking back too-bright sunshine while birds sang in the trees.

"I have got to be dreaming…" He mumbled under his breath as he followed Gina through his mother's sanctuary.

……..

Pegasus jerked awake with the knowledge that something was terribly wrong pulsing in his breast. As always, he sought out Croquet, and he was rather surprised to discover that his guardian gargoyle wasn't already at his bedside, staring down at him with a piercing yet comforting stony expression, as he usually did when Max awakened from the throes of a nightmare.

This time, though, Christopher was asleep in his own bed. Unwilling to wake up his bodyguard-turned-lover, Pegasus slipped from his bed to the window as silently as a ninja preparing to complete an assassination attempt. A thunderstorm had begun to brew outside, and he decided that was what must have awoken him; even without the Eye, his un-augmented sixth sense had always alerted him to drastic changes in the weather. Not surprisingly, Joseph had inherited a touch of his especially strong talents. Though his son was content to consider himself unusually blessed by Lady Luck, Pegasus knew better. After all, Max's own father had also been undeniably 'lucky'; at least, right up until his parents had been killed by a storm engulfing their little yacht during a weekend vacation.

A sense of forlorn loneliness swept over him, then, and he sighed, wrapping his arms around himself in a vain attempt to stave off the spiritual chill. On the other side of the window, rain slid down the glass like sympathetic tears, and Max followed their descent with one tapered, elegant finger. In his heart, he knew that Cecelia was running out of time: he could feel the bond that had always existed between them weakening, and that sense of impending loss alone was enough to force him out of his melancholy state.

__

I will bring you back, Cecelia. If I must destroy every monster in the Shadow Realm with my bare hands to do so, I shall bring you back. He inhaled, a deep, shuddering motion, and took up a resolute stance before the window. _On my tarnished, battered soul, this I swear._

……..

Beneath the sands of faraway Egypt, Shadi stood in an ancient chamber lined with stone tablets that rose like teeth in a perfect circular mouth. Each one was engraved with a hieroglyphic spell, and, through his trance, he was dimly aware that each spell required the sacrifice of a pure, untainted soul to be activated.

The Millennium Scales had chosen which twelve souls would be offered in order to open the gates of the dark dimension, and Destiny herself had chosen the thirteenth. The final sacrifice would prevent the gates from ever being closed again, in the process breaking the spell that had kept Shadi himself bound to a bitter existence for five thousand years.

The thirteenth soul was that of the Chosen One, he who had solved the Millennium Puzzle. The irony of the situation brought a smile to Shadi's lips as he considered it: _The Pharaoh will at long last fulfill his destiny and ascend his throne once more, but not as a mortal or a disembodied spirit. Instead, he will be the demon sovereign of Shadows, and all will fall before him in despair as the Ennead's dark gods rise to power, and we with them._

With that thought on his mind, Shadi swept from the chamber. He felt something approaching regret at the knowledge that he would not be present to see the Pharaoh's destiny unfold, yet there would be satisfaction enough in watching Pharaoh Atem's soul occupy the purged vessel of his self-appointed charge. _The guilt will overwhelm him,_ Shadi knew, _and even as he struggles with that, I shall transfer my curse to him, so that he may live with his self-revulsion until the world crumbles around him._

In his hatred, he felt nothing akin to remorse for what he planned to do.

……….

Not even the technological sanctuary into which Seto had transformed his library was enough to shut out the thunder, and as the last muted rolls of sound dissipated, he stretched self-indulgently, staving off the return of the silence with the crackling of his spine. Though it still required a bit of fine-tuning, his latest project was complete, and a warm feeling that the perfectionist in him recognized as satisfaction spread through his body. _Wait until Jou hears. _The image of his lover's grin was almost enough to send Seto barrelling through the halls to find the dragon-pup, but he forced himself to walk down to the kitchen and calmly brew himself a cup of coffee before doing anything else. It wouldn't do to find Jou and pass out from exhaustion immediately thereafter.

His eyes strayed from the coffee machine to the window just as a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the drenched sand outside. In that brief instant, Seto saw a shape lying beside the mound that had once been their bonfire, and though he was unable to make out any details, his mind conjured images of unruly blond hair and deathly pale skin that set his heart to pounding wildly. Forgetting the still-running coffeemaker, Seto ran out into the downpour. The odds of it being his Jou out there were slim to none, but in his heart, he knew the truth before the first raindrops spattered against his face.

"Jou! Wake up! Can you hear me?" Seto shouted as he slid to knees beside the cold, limp form of his lover, pressing two fingers frantically against the side of Jou's neck. A weak, fluttery pulse beat against the digits, and Seto pulled Jou into his arms, staggering to his feet even as he attempted to shield Joey's already-sodden body from the storm's fury.

Another forked lightning bolt split the sky as he trudged through the downpour, the weight of his fears far greater than the weight of the burden in his arms. The thought of losing Jou forever nearly paralysed the self-proclaimed Ice King, but he forced it from his mind. All that was important now was Jou, and getting him to safety.

Rain had made the stairs treacherous, and though Seto slipped more than once, his hold on Jou never slackened. The door refused to open at first, but a few curse words and failed attempts later, Seto was fighting his way through the narrow entrance, back into the warm, dry house.

Carrying Jou into the family room proved far less difficult than getting him into the house had been, and it was only after Seto laid his lover down on the conversation pit's sofa that his mind slowed down enough to remember that he should check Jou over for treatable wounds. As anticipated, though, he found nothing.

__

Bakura. His mind whispered the name like a fevered wind, and Seto clutched the sofa's armrest in order to prevent himself from charging upstairs and murdering Ryou's body that very second. His love for Jou was quickly metamorphosing into an all-consuming hatred toward those at fault for his lover's present condition. He doubted even his legendary self-control would be enough to stop him if it continued to grow.

……..

While Seto was fighting his own private war, Pegasus decided that he had better investigate the racket downstairs. He had had a bad feeling since the sun had disappeared below the western horizon, and by the time he found Seto and Joseph, the existing sense of impending disaster coupled with guilt threatened to overtake him. "Kaiba, build a fire," he ordered, keeping his voice perfectly modulated despite the fact that, inside, he was nearly frantic with worry. "We need to get him warm and dry."

Mechanically, Seto retrieved a generous amount of kindling from the firewood box near the fireplace and wordlessly went to work, too devastated to argue about being given orders in his own house. Seconds later, a match was struck, and the kindling began to smoulder satisfactorily as Pegasus attempted to ascertain just what was wrong with Jou.

Conveniently enough, Tristan stumbled in then, carrying a blanket and a pillow. He had waited until he was sure that Bakura was asleep before retreating to the leather sectional in the family room; there was no way was he sleeping in the same room with that… thief.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed when he saw Jou, and Seto growled.

Pegasus had managed to get Joseph's wet T-shirt off, and was working on replacing it with his own pyjama top. "Tristan, good. May I have that blanket, and if you would, I could use a few dry towels." He barely glanced up at the tall boy, and Tristan saw red. These two had been playing tug-of-war with Jou since they had come into his life, and now he was hurt, or worse.

Impotently, he thumped Pegasus over the head with his pillow. "Get away from him!" he snarled before turning on Seto, "What did you do to him this time, Kaiba?"

Without waiting for an answer, he pulled off his own pajama pants, leaving himself clad only in boxers and a T-shirt, before deftly stripping Jou of his soaked jeans and redressing the blond in the pajama pants. That done, he cocooned Joey in the blanket, cradling him protectively while Joey's father and lover watched helplessly.

By the time Tristan calmed down, Pegasus had made a complete recovery from being harmlessly assaulted by the pillow. "Tristan, I believe that Bakura may have banished Joseph's soul to the Shadow Realm," the silver-haired gentleman said quietly.

"Oh." All of Tristan's anger evaporated at once, leaving him strangely empty. "Then it's my fault; I left him on the beach alone with Bakura."

__

How like Christopher he is in his willingness to accept blame for his friends' misfortunes, even when they are outside his control. Having been inside his protector's mind, he knew firsthand how devastating such feelings could be. "It's no one's fault, Taylor-boy," he offered in a vain attempt to assuage the teenager's guilt.

Seto, meanwhile, was stoking the fire with a poker, his own wet clothes forgotten as a blue-white fire grew in his mind. Viewing his actions from the vantage point of an outside observer, he eased the poker out of the flames and stood, facing Pegasus. "This is all your fault," he accused in a darkened monotone. "You stopped us from getting Bakura out of this house last night. Now, your careless stupidity has inflicted the same fate upon your son that befell your wife." Not a single quiver passed through Seto's hand as he brandished his red-hot weapon. "Look at him, Pegasus. Look at him, and know as you go into the darkness that his pain will be forever on your head!"

Tristan struggled to shift Joey's body back onto the couch in time to stop Seto, but knew the futility of his effort before it began. Clutching Jou to his chest, he clenched his eyes shut; bad enough that the atrocity would happen without having to see it.

The sound of Croquet's gun was louder than the thunder to the heightened senses of the living room's occupants, and Seto dropped the poker, turning automatically to face Croquet. Vaguely, he realized that he had been shot, but as no sensory information was making it to the higher levels of his brain, he wasn't even certain where the bullet had penetrated his body.

Though Croquet lowered his weapon as Seto dropped to his knees slowly, he maintained a defensive posture as he cleared the distance between himself and his master, checking Pegasus over for injuries. The memory of the poker, an inch from his lover's remaining eye, made him nauseous, and he rolled the makeshift weapon away vehemently, as though it might attempt to finish the job under its own power.

Tristan gave up on being gentle with Jou then, dumping his limp body to the floor while he watched the red stain bloom on Seto's tan slacks, running down from his calf to his ankle. By then, everyone else had come running into the family room, their expressions ranging from frightened to bewildered.

"Big brother!" Mokuba cried out, kneeling beside Seto as the elder Kaiba slumped to the floor completely, barely retaining consciousness against the shock that threatened to overwhelm his conscious mind.

"Christopher Croquet! You shot our host!" Pegasus roared, his remaining eye brimming with gratitude despite his words. "What appalling manners!"

"It's a flesh wound. He'll live," Croquet said dryly, fighting the urge to throw his arms around Max in relief. Such a display would only earn him another lecture, this one about propriety and corrupting young minds.

"You shot my brother! You shot my brother!" Mokuba screamed suddenly, launching himself at Croquet and pounding his fists into the man's chest. Croquet bore the punches as though they were no more than feathery taps as he tried to decide whether he should tell the younger Kaiba that his brother had been seconds away from striking another human being blind. _At least the boy's injury will heal._

"Joey! Oh, no! What happened?" Serenity shrieked, panic striking her with the force of an earthquake as she noticed her brother's prone form strewn across the floor. She ran to him, running her fingers over his cold, clammy skin until Tristan pulled her against his chest, letting her sob into his T-shirt.

"It looks like we jumped the gun thinking we'd gotten rid of the Ring," he said, ignoring the pain of Serenity's nails digging into his back.

Yami appeared at Yugi's side then, scowling angrily, and Yami Bakura grinned at the ancient pharaoh, deciding that his disguise was no longer necessary. He was so focused on Yami, however, that he didn't see Tea coming until her fist connected solidly with his jaw, and ended up in a graceless heap on the floor as a result.

Unfortunately, that small action failed to sate Tea's anger, and she advanced on Yami instead. Being the brave, noble pharaoh that he was, the spirit of the Puzzle took a step back, placing Yugi between himself and their ticked-off girlfriend in the process.

"A lot of good it did sending him to the Shadow Realm, Yami!" she shouted before spinning on her heel and glaring down at Bakura. "Where's Ryou? What happened to Joey?" Her head snapped around, and her glare became focused on Croquet. "Why did you shoot Kaiba?"

"Since you're so trigger happy, old man, why don't you just take Bakura out?" Seto hissed at Croquet. He tried to rise, ignoring Mokuba's pleas for him to rest, and nearly bit clean through his tongue in the act of suppressing an agonized scream.

"No, Kaiba," Yugi interjected, even as Croquet gladly trained his gun on Bakura. "We want Ryou back, so we can't do anything to his body, and if Bakura's incapacitated, we won't be able to get Joey back." The diminutive boy sighed. "Besides, Bakura's soul would only return to the Ring, and then we'd be worse off than we are now."

Seto could have told his rival that Ryou's body could be recreated in the same way that he planned to recreate Cecelia's, but the last waves of pain kept him silent. In any case, that course of action would require too much explaining, and he didn't feel much like getting into complicated discussions with a hole in his leg.

"Would somebody please help my brother?" Mokuba's voice pierced the quiet blanket of pensiveness that had settled over the room, and with one last glance at his lover, Croquet got to his feet.

"I'll go find a first-aid kit," he murmured, ignoring Seto's murderous glare as he re-holstered his gun and strode from the room.

………

The sudden appearance of Gina the Dark Magician Girl, along with her newest companion, startled Ryou out of the trance-like state into which he had lapsed since her departure. It took him a few moments to recognize Joey, but his melancholic aura dissipated as soon as he did. "Joey? I'm so glad to see you!" He gave his friend a warm hug, realizing only once they separated that the blond boy shouldn't have been there at all. "What are you doing here, though?"

Joey gave his friend a lopsided grin, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair playfully. Now was not the time for horsing around. "Same way you did, I guess; one-way ticket on the Bakura Express."

"Oh," Ryou responded, and his shoulders slumped guiltily. "I'm so sorry, Joey. That yami of mine… First, he stole the Millennium Eye, then he sent me here so that I couldn't interfere with his plans." He paused, saddened by his admission. "I think Yugi is in a lot of danger; Bakura wants the Millennium Puzzle, and he'll do anything to get it. Cecelia and Gina have been trying to help me at least get back to my soul room in the Ring, but I think Bakura has done something to block me out..." He trailed off, staring down at the ground beneath his feet. "If only I were stronger..."

"Hey, listen to me," Joey said, tilting Ryou's chin up until honey met chocolate. "Bakura is not your responsibility, and there is no reason for you to feel guilty because of what he's done." As he spoke, his memory flashed back to a similar conversation he'd had with his father just that morning, and he suddenly understood just what Pegasus had been getting at. It also reminded him that Ryou had been out of the loop for quite some time, and could probably use an update. "You should know... Cecelia is my biological mother."

"I know. And that means…" Ryou hesitated, unsure whether he should be the one to break the next bit of news to Joey, in case the blond was not already aware of it.

"That Pegasus is my father?" Jou finished for him, and Ryou nodded with relief. Jou only smirked. "He's not such a bad guy, really." Craning his neck, he turned to look over his shoulder at Gina, who had disappeared inside the nearby pavilion upon their arrival. "Hey, do you know where my mother is?"

"Oh, of course, Joey. Forgive me; I should have known you would want to see her immediately," Ryou apologized before leading him into the pavilion. As they walked, Ryou added, "She isn't doing very well, Joey. Her soul itself seems to be… fading. I don't know how to help her. I'm so useless."

Gina's sweet soprano voice reached their ears as they entered. The Dark Magician Girl was sitting beside Cecelia, stroking her friend's long blonde tresses. After a moment, her voice began to fade, eventually stopping completely. "I've just cast a spell of protection over your mother, Joseph. Hopefully, it will buy her a little time."

Joey nodded, spellbound by the sight of his mother's pitiable form as he knelt beside her. Translucent though she was, Jou knew that this was no dream, that she was really there, really dying. Tears pricked at his eyes; this was the mother he had always longed for. After waiting so long, he couldn't lose her. Not when he had just found her.

Gina squeezed his shoulder, and Jou met her huge, sparkling eyes, "Thank you. Maybe I can help her, too." Remembering the dream he had had the night before, he tilted Cecelia's head back, supporting her neck with his hand as he bent over her and covered her lips with his own. In a type of transfusion no medical journal had ever recorded, he breathed spiritual energy into her, and Cecelia gasped as her china-blue eyes fluttered open.

"H-how d-did you know to do that?" Ryou stammered, surprise overriding his ability to string together coherent sentences.

Joey scratched his head, grinning sheepishly, "I figured it out in a dream?" he offered with a shrug.

"Joseph?" Cecelia questioned, weak and uncertain. Stubbornly, she tried to push herself up onto her elbows, only to be eased back down by Gina.

"You must rest, Lady Pegasus," she whispered.

"Yeah, Mom, it's me." Joey smiled through bittersweet tears before hugging her as tightly as he dared.

Cecelia welcomed the embrace until she came to the same realization that Ryou had only a few minutes before, and made a feeble attempt to push her son away. "Oh, no! Joseph, you shouldn't be here!"

"My yami did it," Ryou sighed, and in an attempt to save Ryou from the scrutiny of the pavilion's other occupants, Jou began to explain the circumstances surrounding his arrival in the Shadow Realm himself.

………

Even as he ordered the sacrifices to begin, Shadi was already falling into the trance that would enable him to chant the ancient spells necessary to begin opening the gate. Outside of the circle of the stone tablets, those members of Shadi's secret society not chosen as executioners chanted as well, their voices resounding in a powerful counter-rhythm to the invocations of their leader.

An ornate ceremonial blade slashed a mercifully quick and precise stroke through the throat of the first innocent, and Shadi felt the sensation of the blood splashing the carved stone as though the rock were his own flesh. _Soon, _he reminded his suddenly-impatient heart, the thought somehow evading the mental wall created by his trance. _Soon, I shall be free, and the world will tremble._

……….

Despite the fact that the pain in his leg had hardly abated since his first failed attempt at moving, Seto managed to crawl close enough to touch his lover's unconscious body. Even with the fire, dry clothes, and the blanket, the blond's skin was still unnaturally cold, and Seto began to rub languid circles into Joey's chest and face, hoping to restore some of the boy's warmth and, at the same time, alleviate his own feeling of impending doom. As he was doing this, Croquet returned with the first aid kit, setting the white box down on a nearby table and removing a roll of gauze and a tube of disinfectant.

"If you come one step closer to me, old man," Seto promised, "I'll shove the shards of your broken nose into your brain, and enjoy every second."

"Don't be so stubborn, big brother!" Mokuba said, his voice practically a whine. "You need medical attention!"

"Which I wouldn't need if that toy soldier hadn't shot me in the first place!" Seto snapped, the burning sting of the wound as he turned to regard his brother making him beyond irritable.

"Which he wouldn't have been forced to do if you hadn't tried to blind Pegasus!" Tristan returned, defending Croquet.

"Stop it; this isn't helping anyone!" Tea pleaded, shouting to be heard over the testosterone-driven males.

"He's not touching me," Seto snarled, his defiance a poor mask for his childishness. "Anyone else, but not him."

Croquet nodded briskly, setting the medical supplies down as he turned to Tristan and shrugged, "Be my guest."

"Fine." Tristan snatched the gauze and disinfectant from Croquet before kneeling beside Seto, glowering at the billionaire as he went. "Don't expect me to be gentle," he warned before roughly ripping Seto's pant leg up the seam.

Seto hissed through his teeth as pain shot up his leg, but Tristan was too angry to be empathic. As he worked, Serenity returned to cradling Jou's head in her lap, tears streaming down her face as shocked tremors shook her entire frame. She had lost both of her parents in such a short time, and her brother's seemingly lifeless state resembled her mother's coma far too closely for her to avoid projecting the outcome of the latter onto the former.

Though he noticed his girlfriend's strife, Tristan realized that he had to take care of Seto before he could spare the necessary time to comfort her. "Could you get something to help me clean this with?" he asked Tea, and she nodded wordlessly as she moved over to the nearby bar.

In the background once again, Croquet silently slipped off his robe and handed it to his bare-chested master. Clad as he was in only a wife beater and green pajama pants, the fact that Chris was more than a toy soldier in a suit was obvious, and those occupants of the room that were otherwise unoccupied tore their eyes away from Tristan and Seto to stare for a moment, surprised that they had never noticed the extent of Croquet's musculature, even beneath his slightly baggy suits. Oblivious to their eyes, Chris casually shifted the Glock back into his hand, and trained his own grey pools on Bakura.

Pegasus acknowledged the proffered item of clothing with a faint nod before donning the garment, revelling in the musky scent of his beloved Christopher as it enveloped his senses. Forcing himself back into reality, he tied the sash quickly and went to kneel by Serenity, whispering a few tender words in her ear as he cradled her gently.

"He will be alright," he told her. "Joseph is a survivor, and an especially strong one at that."

Serenity nodded against him, clinging to him tightly, but said nothing.

Tea returned with a couple of fingertip towels and an ice bucket filled with lukewarm water, both of which she brought over to Tristan, who in turn went to work cleaning Seto's wound. He was relieved to see that the bullet had passed through the muscle of Seto's calf cleanly; though it must have hurt like Hell, no permanent damage had been done, and he told his 'patient' as much.

This knowledge was no comfort to Seto, though, who could do nothing but grit his teeth against the pain while Mokuba watched in obvious agitation. It suddenly occurred to Seto that the entire process would be far less nerve-wracking for both of them if Mokuba had something he could do to help out, and with a great effort, he managed to marshal enough strength to speak. "Kuba, Jou still has some painkillers left from when his hands were burned. Do you think you could get them from his toiletries bag?"

"Sure thing, big brother." Mokuba couldn't possibly have been happier with the opportunity to do something useful, and dashed up the stairs so quickly that Seto feared he might trip and fall right back down them.

Across the room, Bakura was doing his best to drown out Yami's voice while he enjoyed the spectacle of pain and misery. "You will return Joey and Ryou's souls to their bodies!" Yami shouted for what felt like the fiftieth time, and the former tomb robber's eyes narrowed as they shifted to glare at his spiky-haired inquisitor.

"Or what, Pharaoh?" he snorted. "You'll turn me into a pillar of salt? You can't do anything to me; you don't remember how!"

"Care to test that theory?" The Eye of Horus flashed across Yami's forehead as he extended his hand. "I can have you in the Shadow Realm before you can blink."

"And we all know how that worked out last time, don't we?" Evidently amused, the albino thief threw his head back in a sinister, chilling laugh.

Mokuba returned then, carrying a small brown bottle and a glass of water for his brother. Seto downed two capsules as Tristan finished bandaging his leg, and turned to his semi-unwilling medic. "Thank you," he said sincerely, and Tristan nearly fainted from shock.

……..

The underground chamber in which Shadi stood was covered with crimson bloodstains, the same substance tinting his pristine white robes pink in several places. Shadi did not mind the mess, however; thanks to the twelve innocents who had unwillingly given their lives and their souls this day, the ritual sacrifice was nearly complete, and it would soon be over.

Though Shadi was relieved, however, he found nothing to celebrate in his success. His own existence sickened him, cursed as he was with the charge of merging the realms of Shadow and Light. His only comfort lay in the knowledge that the cessation of his own life would be brought about by his victory.

Emotionlessly, Shadi stepped through the opened gates of the Shadow Realm and focused the energies of the Millennium items with which he had been entrusted upon the Puzzle. He had promised little Yugi that their paths would cross again, and it was time to make good on his word.

………

As the outdoor thunderstorm blew itself out, another storm was beginning to brew inside the beach house. Tristan had reclaimed Serenity from Pegasus as soon as he had finished with Seto, holding her close while he did his best to rein in his temper. Tea and Yugi were sitting side by side on one end of the conversation pit; Yami stood over them, grimly considering the implications of their present situation.

Mokuba had curled up against Jou's chest, comforted by the reassuring rhythm of the blond's steady heartbeat as his own body heat warmed Jou's chilled flesh. He hid the tears he didn't dare let the others see for fear of being treated like a small, weak child. Perhaps that disdain of vulnerability was a trait he shared with his older brother.

Seto, for his part, was torn between his grief over Jou and a rage so terrible that he felt physically sickened by it. If he hadn't been incapacitated by Croquet, both Pegasus and Bakura would be dead for the parts they had played in his lover's misfortune, and Seto didn't know whether he should be grateful or not towards the older man for stopping him. For the time being, he settled for brooding.

Finally, Yami shattered the silence with a confident certainty that no one else in the room possessed. "Yami Bakura, I challenge you to a duel. If you win, you will get my soul, my power, and the Millennium Puzzle. However, if you lose, you will forfeit both the Millennium Ring and the Eye, and you will return Joey and Ryou's souls to their bodies."

Bakura was startled; the pharaoh was playing right into his hands, but how had Yami known he was responsible for the theft of the Millennium Eye? He covered up his moment's uncertainty with a dark laugh. "I accept your challenge, Pharaoh. Shall we return to the beach? Seems only fitting that we should fight to reclaim your friend's soul in the spot where it was stolen." Seto snarled, and Bakura snickered.

Tea turned to face Yami, taking his hand in hers. "You can't take this risk, gambling with their lives, not to mention your own. Just think about what it would do to Yugi if you…if you…" She couldn't bring herself to say lose; she barely dared think it. "Think what it would do to me," she finished, interlacing her fingers with his.

****

"Then I guess we'll just have to win this duel, won't we?" Yugi said, forcing himself to adopt a cavalier facade for her benefit.

****

"What do you mean 'we', aibou?" Yami asked sternly.

****

"We need to rejoin; it takes too much of your focus and energy to separate from me like this." Yugi reminded his soul partner. "Besides, we're a team. We'll do this together, if we do it at all."

"We're all a team," Tea said, leaping up suddenly. Yugi's words had awoken the energetic cheerleader in her, and she locked her insecurities deep down inside herself, where they wouldn't interfere with her ability to support Yami. "Remember when you dueled Bakura on Duelist Kingdom? We should all put a card in your deck, so it will be like we're all duelling."

****

Yami nodded thoughtfully before rejoining his light. He would have preferred to have kept Yugi out of this, but he also knew that his charge was already involved in this affair. _One more thing to worry about..._

The others all thought Tea had a great idea. Decks and duel discs were retrieved, and Seto's intensely pained gaze pierced Yugi's heart as he handed over one of his Blue Eyes White Dragons.

"For Jou," the dragon master said simply, and Yugi nodded once.

"For Jou," he agreed respectfully, knowing just how much that small gesture had cost Seto.

"How disgustingly saccharine," Bakura sneered, taunting the injured brunet. "The mighty Kaiba, brought low by a mere puppy."

Tristan grabbed him by the shoulders then, spinning him around to glare into his eyes. "If you had a body of your own, I'd break your face," he spat as he herded him from the family room, pausing only to hand Yugi his card.

"Nice," Yugi grinned as he looked at the Dark Blade in his hand. _At least they aren't all Tribute monsters..._

"Please save my brother," Serenity asked meekly, extending her St. Joan card to Yugi. "I know you can't play it without the other cards, but maybe it'll bring you good luck anyway."

"Thanks, Serenity. I'm sure it will," Yugi said, slipping the card into his fast-growing pile. Serenity nodded before following Tristan out, and as Yugi watched her slow, broken steps, his determination to save Joey tripled. She could not lose her brother, not now, and certainly not in this way.

Tea kissed his cheek, recognizing his worry. "I'll take care of her, Yugi, and Joey will be back to keep Tristan in line before we know it." Her words drew a smile from Yugi, which she returned twofold before handing him two cards. "Dancing Fairy is for you, Yugi, and The Forgiving Maiden is for Yami. Good luck, guys." Her contribution made, she stepped aside, clearing the way for Pegasus to approach the diminutive duellist.

"I am well aware that you and your spiritual ally may need little enough aid to rescue my son, Yugi-boy. You are quite an extraordinary duellist; the only one to have ever defeated me. Still, please accept my humble offering." He smiled, and Yugi looked down at the cards Pegasus held in his hand: Relinquished and Black Illusion Ritual.

Tears glistened in Yugi's eyes as the man's sincere faith in him and Pegasus' grief over Joey overwhelmed him. "Joey's my best friend. I promise you, we'll get him back. Together." As he took the cards from the older man, he clasped Pegasus' hand, and Pegasus' smile grew broader.

"I know you will, Yugi-boy." Pegasus turned to follow the others out to the beach, his faithful shadow at his heels. As Croquet passed Yugi, he slowed just long enough to slip something into the fan of cards that Yugi already held, and Yugi smiled as he recognized the Trap card, A Hero Emerges.

"Shall we?" he said, slipping the cards into his duelling deck as he gallantly offered Tea his arm. She giggled as she took it, and he escorted her out of the house.

Mokuba seemed to have gone to sleep snuggled up against Jou, so Seto left them there undisturbed. Determinedly, he hobbled out behind the others, wincing at the pain in his leg. He made it to an empty chair just as Yami and Bakura squared off on the beach, and watched as their Duel Disks shifted into the 'ready' position.

__

He'll be alright, he told himself. _Yugi will win, and he'll save Jou, and we'll go back to the way things were._ No matter how many times he repeated these mental justifications, however, they were powerless to quell the hyperactive butterflies in his stomach.


	39. Chapter 39 United We Stand

****

Chapter 39: United We Stand

A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. It was actually ready to go about a week ago, but then (sobs) my computer had to go to the vet….oh no, that's where you take your pets, right?…Ah well, you get the idea. Thanks for all of your support and lovely reviews!

………

Since Yami had been the one to issue the challenge, he let Bakura have the first move. The tomb robber chose to make a relatively standard and uncharacteristically cautious opening move, playing one monster in in defense and one spell card facedown. Emulating this strategy, Yami also played one monster in defense motioning for Bakura to continue.

His opponent sneered victoriously as he flipped his face-down monster, La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp 1800/1000 into attack mode before equipping it with the Axe of Despair, his facedown spell card. This move brought La Jinn's attack strength up to 2800, and Bakura grinned, feeling invincible. " La Jinn, attack the deadbeat Pharaoh's facedown card!"

There was no change in Yami's inscrutable game face as he sent Royal Magical Library 0/2000 to the graveyard, but each soldier in his select army of supporters flinched. Not even two full turns had gone by, and their champion was already on the defensive.

****

"Why did you do it, Bakura?" Tristan demanded, trying to crush his uncertainty beneath cavalier words. "Why did you send them to the Shadow Realm? I know Ryou probably _was_ too strong for you to control, but why Joey? What did he ever do to you?"

Tristan's taunts caused an indescribable fury to take root in Bakura, ruining his power trip. "Ryou got what he deserved for his betrayal, and as for Joey, he was just bait. I knew the all-powerful pharaoh and his puny hikari would never stand for their pet being taken away, and let's not forget that he's Kaiba's bitch as well." His eyes flicked to the injured brunet, and he sneered again. "You really shouldn't leave a puppy on his own like that; someone might come along and steal him away." The albino thief licked his lips. "He is extraordinarily sweet. I really should have taken more from him than just his soul…"

Seto growled, dragging himself to unsteady feet. "**I** willtake **your **soul if you don't bring Jou back _now_!" He managed to stumble all the way to the steps before dark spots swam before his eyes, forcing him to sink down before them.

Bakura laughed manically. "You can't even walk, much less destroy a five thousand year old spirit!"

Pegasus felt the evil radiating off of Bakura in waves that assaulted him like physical blows. He staggered, and Croquet steadied him. Though he was more than ready to let Croquet take care of the dark spirit that second, he knew that would solve nothing, and create a host of new problems, eliminating their one chance to save Joseph as well as condemning Ryou to the same fate his wife had suffered since her physical body's death.

"Yami, are you planning on standing there all night, or are you actually going to put this foul creature in his place!" Seto called from the spot where he still knelt, the cold bleeding through his bandages and into his injured leg.

Yami didn't respond as he drew a card and studied his hand before playing one monster in defence and one spell card facedown with quick, efficient movements. "Your move."

"That's it? That's the best you can do? That isn't a move worthy of any rival of mine!" Seto groaned in dismay. _He's going to lose. I know it. I'll never see the damn mutt again..._

"Shut up, Kaiba!" Tea shouted at him, taking time away from her cheerleading duties to do so. "You're not helping!"

Bakura smiled, enjoying the sight of the mortals' uneasy alliances as they began to crumble. He summoned Opticlops 1800/1700 in attack position before placing a spell card facedown. "I told you the Pharaoh was a deadbeat, Kaiba. You used to know the value of self-reliance; a pity you've suddenly become another hopeless supporter." Yet another feral grin twisted his alabaster features. "Opticlops, attack his facedown monster!"

Yami allowed himself a sigh as he sent the Illusory Gentleman to the graveyard. At least he hadn't lost any life points…yet.

"Hang in there, Yami. We believe in you!" Tea encouraged.

Seto buried his face in his hands, partially so he wouldn't have to watch and partially so he wouldn't scream.

"La Jinn, attack his life points directly!" Bakura ordered.

A high-pitched sound, somewhere between crazed laughter and a manic sob, tore itself from Kaiba's suddenly-dry throat, drawing stares from everyone but Yami and Bakura. With a sigh, Pegasus sat beside the obviously-anguished young man, knowing full well that Seto himself lacked the compassion necessary to perform such an act but unable to leave another human being in such soul-crushing pain.

"Seto, have you ever known Yugi, or Yami, or whoever he is," Pegasus ventured, waving a hand in the tricolour-haired boy's general direction, "To lose a duel? Hmm… come now, Kaiba-boy, have you?"

"There's always a first time," Seto snarled disconsolately. "I should know."

Pegasus didn't have an answer for that one; he knew that Kaiba was right from experience. "Congratulations, Kaiba-boy. My confidence is officially undermined."

"Anytime," replied Seto as they returned to watching the duel, both their faces twisted into pitifully glum expressions.

………

Cecelia floated comfortably on her sea of cushions, listening as Ryou and Gina tried to explain their situation to Joseph as briefly and simply as possible. She had offered to try herself, but all three of her visitors seemed to have made it their mission to prevent her from taxing her limited strength as much as possible.

"I don't get it. Why would this Souleater person still need you or Father when Father doesn't even have the Millennium Eye anymore?" Jou had been interrupting with question after question since Ryou had begun his supposedly-short lecture, and despite the albino boy's apparent frustration, Cecelia found Jou's ability to be baffled by even the least complicated of details delightfully endearing.

An image of the blue-eyed, white-robed Egyptian standing over Cecelia's prone form appeared with startling clarity in Ryou's mind, and he shivered, though the Shadow Realm was neither hot nor cold. He recognized that Cecelia was already getting weaker again, and none of them had any idea how to get out of this mess.

"He wants the pharaoh, Joseph. By using me as bait, Souleater has been able to manipulate your father into drawing the spirit of the pharaoh out," Cecelia explained slowly, sighing hopelessly. "Souleater must believe that he has what he wants within his grasp, or he wouldn't be allowing my soul's energy to drain away."

Worry creased Jou's face as he took her hand. "Mom, you gotta hang on. We're gonna get you out of here, but Seto just needs a little more time."

"Seto? As in Seto Kaiba?" Ryou stared at Jou, surprise widening his deep chocolate eyes.

"Yeah, the one and only." Jou would have laughed at Ryou's expression if he hadn't been worried sick about his mother.

"But… why would Kaiba help Pegasus? He doesn't exactly get along with your father…" Ryou remarked carefully, mindful of Cecelia's presence. He didn't know much of her husband's sins the regal woman could stand to have exposed in her current state.

"That's an understatement," Jou said grimly.

"Joseph, what did your father do to this friend of yours, this Seto?" Cecelia's voice was weaker than Ryou remembered, but it still held an inexorable air of command. "I know he's done some awful things. Those Millennium items are incredibly powerful, and not just anyone has the strength or the will necessary to wield one." She paused and looked pointedly at Ryou, who felt as though he were waking from a deep sleep under her intense gaze. "Your father isn't infallible. He's made mistakes, and I love him enough not to dwell on them. So, please, tell me what happened."

Joey glanced at Ryou hoping for moral support, but his friend seemed lost in his own thoughts as he stared at the Millennium Ring. "Well, Mom, he kidnapped Seto's little brother, Mokuba, tried to steal his company, and then sealed both of their souls in Duel Monster cards," he answered truthfully.

Cecelia closed her eyes momentarily, feeling grief and shame overwhelm what little strength she possessed. Hot tears began to trickle down her face despite her closed eyelids, however, and she hurriedly wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "All because I was taken from him…"

Joey nodded, wishing he hadn't been quite so direct with his mother. Even the perky Dark Magician Girl looked depressed as she tried to console her, but there was no blame in her large eyes as she glanced at Jou. "Lady Pegasus, you mustn't blame yourself. Don't forget it was Souleater who set this entire scheme in motion."

At the mention of the one responsible for the entire mess, Jou suddenly felt a need for revenge with which he knew Seto would empathize. That thought reminded him of how much he missed his spiritually bruised dragon, and he allowed himself a sorrowful sigh. _Oh, baby blue eyes, I know you won't let me down, but I miss you so much… is this what my parents feel, being pulled apart this way? This shattered emptiness that no amount of love from anyone else could ever fill?_

Then, his mother reached for him, and he took her hand, reminding himself that he had to be strong for her. Self-pity could always be indulged later.

………

Yami wore a rueful smile as he flipped up his Nutrient Z Trap card. "My trap allows me to increase my life points by 4000 before the damage is calculated," he stated smugly.

Bakura swore softly in Egyptian under his breath; not only had Yami not suffered any battle damage, he had actually increased his life points to 9100. "Your turn, Pharaoh," he snorted, unable to do anything else.

"In that case, I remove The Illusory Gentleman and Royal Magical Library from play to summon Chaos Sorcerer 2300/2000. His special ability allows me to remove one monster on the field from play each turn, at the cost of his attack." Yami announced in a deep baritone. "I choose to remove La Jinn, the Mystical Genie!"

Bakura's eyes glowed like hot coals, but he removed La Jinn without comment, sending his Axe of Despair to the graveyard in the process. "I activate Graverobber's Retribution," he growled, "my face down trap. During each of my subsequent Standby Phases, you will lose 100 life points for each of your monsters that have been removed from play. Then, I will draw first blood by playing this." From his hand, he played the magic card Ookazi, which inflicted 800 points of direct damage to Yami's life points. "Next, I play Change of Heart, and sacrifice Chaos Sorcerer to summon Marie the Fallen One. Now, I believe I can attack your life points directly." The demon woman's holographic projection slashed at him, and Yami groaned. "What's the matter, Yami? Losing your touch?"

Yami scowled, and Yugi demanded his attention. /If we get Marie the Fallen One, we can summon St. Joan. /

/We are already down to 4800 life points, aibou. While I agree that St. Joan would be a great help, we must plan carefully if we expect to summon her before we are defeated./ Closing the mental link once more, Yami drew a card. At the moment, his hand consisted of Seto's Blue Eyes White Dragon, the Witch of the Black Forest, Polymerization, Magician of Faith, and a Graceful Charity, which he had just drawn . "I play Graceful Charity," he said, drawing three more cards and choosing two to send to the graveyard. "Then, I'll activate Dark Hole, play one monster in defence, and end my turn."

Yami's cheerleading squad was shocked into silence, and Bakura doubled over laughing, "This is your great and mighty leader?" the dark spirit of the Ring demanded, his face becoming surly once more as he began his turn. "Because of Marie the Fallen One's special ability, I gain 200 life points at this and each of my subsequent standby phases. In addition, due to Graverobber's Retribution and the two monsters you removed from play, you _lose _200 life points during each of my standby phases." Derisive laughter threatened to overcome him once again, but the albino thief squelched it beneath his dark facade.

Croquet moved to stand by Pegasus, who was still on the steps of the deck with Kaiba. His hand automatically went to his waistband in search of his Glock before he remembered that it was back in his and Max's bedroom, which drew a frustrated sigh from the normally-controlled man. After his little shooting-Kaiba-in-the-leg debacle, Max had forbidden him to remove his weapon from its case again while they were on vacation.

All of a sudden, Chris realized that Max was watching him with an arched eyebrow, and huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest. He hated their current situation, mainly due to his inability to do anything more than sit back and watch it unfold, a state of affairs that goaded the control freak in him.

Across the beach, Bakura's move continued, unaffected by Croquet's grim musings, "I place one spell card facedown, summon Whiptail Crow, and attack your facedown card," he said.

Yami's Witch of the Black Forest was flipped up before it joined the rest of his fallen monsters, and seeing her holographic image reminded Yami of a spunky young duellist named Rebecca, who could have given rocks lessons in intransigence. "I should thank you, Bakura; because of your attack, I get to choose a card from my deck with a defense of 1500 or less to add to my hand."

Bakura's eyes narrowed, "Your turn, Pharaoh."

Yami drew A Hero Emerges, and his eyes flashed minutely. "I set one spell card and summon Dark Blade, who will attack Whiptail Crow!"

"I activate Jar of Greed," Bakura interjected quickly, flipping the card in question over, "and draw one card from my deck."

Bakura drew his card, and Yami completed his attack, inflicting a measly 150 points of damage to the other dark spirit's 8200 life points in the process of getting rid of his Crow. Inwardly, Yami sighed; he had a long way to go, but as long as he had faith, he would make it. "Do your worst, Bakura!" he shouted, trying to keep both his morale and that of his supporters up.

"Oh, believe me, my dear pharaoh, I intend to." Bakura sneered as he drew his next card. Due to the continuous nature of his Graverobber's Retribution, Yami lost another 200 life points, which brought his total down to 4400. Because of Marie the Fallen One, Bakura's own life points were now up to 8250. "I play one spell card facedown and summon the Bistro Butcher. Attack Dark Blade!"

"I activate the trap card, A Hero Emerges." Yami announced as he flipped his facedown card up. "You must randomly choose one card from my hand. If you choose a trap or magic card, it will be sent to the graveyard. However, if you choose a monster, it will be automatically summoned to the field. Choose carefully, Bakura."

The white-haired thief sauntered up to Yami and snatched one card out of the four in the pharaoh's hand with no apparent forethought whatsoever. Yami took it from him and placed it on the field in attack position while Bakura stomped back to his place, cursing in a combination of English, Japanese, and Arabic. Seto's interest was sparked by the new monster in play, and he sat a little straighter as shimmering white wings unfolded from his favourite monster's armoured body.

"Way to go, Bakura!" Tristan cheered, and Bakura glared at him, nostrils flaring.

Perhaps Max was the only one to catch the irony in the fact that Seto's Blue Eyes White Dragon had been special summoned to the field by the effect of Croquet's trap card; Chris arched one eyebrow, but said nothing. Bakura completed his kamikaze attack, sending both the Bistro Butcher and Dark Blade to their masters' respective graveyards before ending his turn.

Yami drew and played Dancing Fairy in attack position. "Blue Eyes, attack his life points directly!" he called out, expecting his opponent's confidence to shatter.

Instead, Bakura simply smirked, flipping up his Negate Attack trap card amid a round of frustrated groans from Yami's supporters. Not only had the spirit of the Ring managed to stop the great white dragon's rampage in its tracks, he had also managed to end Yami's battle phase.

"Next time, you will not fare as well, Tomb Robber," Yami promised.

Bakura drew a card, disregarding his enemy's threat. He now had 8450 life points, while the King of Games was reduced to 4200; as far as he was concerned, he was winning this duel, and by far more than a slim margin. "I place one spell card facedown and summon The Fiend Megacyber. Since you have two more monsters in play than I do, it needs no tributes." His smirk fell back into place, and Yami stifled a growl. "Fiend Megacyber, send that Dancing Fairy to its grave!"

Yami put the card into his graveyard, glancing at Tea as he did so. She nodded once, and he understood that she in no way held the loss of one of her cards against him. Although Bakura's attack had cost him another 500 points of damage, he still had Blue Eyes on field, so he wasn't too worried as he drew a card and added Black Illusion Ritual to his hand. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, White Lightning Attack!" Yami roared.

Bakura lost 800 life points in the attack, sending The Fiend Megacyber to the graveyard as well. Once he drew his next card, though, his evil smirk intensified twofold; it seemed that the Pharaoh's short burst of luck was at its end. Marie the Fallen One returned 200 of his lost life points to him from beyond the grave 7850 and Graverobber's Retribution caused Yami to lose 200 3500.

"I remove from play Opticlops, Whiptail Crow, and The Bistro Butcher to summon Dark Necrofear 2200/2800 to the field," Bakura announced, causing Tea and Tristan to exchange confused glances. Dark Necrofear was hardly a match for Blue Eyes, in their opinion.

"Crap!" Seto hissed under his breath.

"Indeed," Pegasus concurred.

Yami's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he drew his next card, placing it facedown in the spell/trap section of the field while he and Yugi held a silent consultation. Crimson eyes darted to Seto, who shook his head slightly. It was the answer he had been expecting, but if he didn't attack, the duel would amount to a stand off.

Decision made, Yami ordered, "Blue Eyes, White Lightning Attack!"

Bakura grinned triumphantly, despite having lost another 800 life points, "Are you quite finished, my Pharaoh?" he asked sardonically.

"I am," Yami replied evenly.

"I activate Dark Necrofear's special ability," Bakura stated, ignoring Seto's groan of dismay. "When this monster is destroyed in battle it is treated as an equipment card at the end of the turn. More specifically, by equipping Dark Necrofear to one of your monsters, I gain control of that monster. And since you only have one monster on the field… I choose to take control of Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Yami's eyes widened as he finally began to understand the logic behind Seto's unspoken warning, which he had dismissed as being fuelled wholly by sentiment. Bakura snickered and drew his next card, now possessed of 7250 life points to Yami's 3300. "I attack your life points directly, Yami. Blue Eyes, go!"

"Not so fast, Bakura," Yami said in a still, unflustered voice. "I activate my trap card, Magic Cylinder, and redirect your attack back to you."

"Yes!" Tristan whooped as he, Serenity, and Tea cheered and clapped. Finally, Bakura had taken some significant damage, bringing him down to 4250 life points.

Yami sighed as he drew his next card, knowing all too well that he had only gained a brief reprieve. Once he saw the card in his hand, though, his confident smile returned, and he met Bakura's cold brown eyes head-on. "I ritual summon Relinquished," he said, laying down Black Illusion Ritual first, "offering Summoned Skull as the tribute monster." Both the magic card and the monster went to the graveyard, and Yami placed Relinquished on the field. "Then, I activate Relinquished's special ability, choosing Blue Eyes White Dragon as its equipment card. Relinquished now adopts Blue Eyes' attack and Defense, and breaks your Necrofear's hold on it." Bakura snarled as control of the mighty dragon switched again and Dark Necrofear went to the graveyard, leaving him wide open to the pharaoh's attack. "Relinquished, attack the tomb robber's life points directly!" Yami ordered.

Pegasus reached over and hugged the man who, only a short time before, had tried to blind him, overjoyed by the new direction the duel was taking and the way Yami had melded the cards from all of their divergent decks together. It truly was as Tea had said; they were all battling a common foe, and united they would stand strong.

"Pegasus! Get. Off. Of. Me. Now!" Seto enunciated clearly as he struggled to free himself without damaging his leg any further.

Pegasus chuckled lightly. Croquet rolled his eyes, though it was hard to say whether this was due to the antics of his employer or Seto's offended dignity.

For a moment, Bakura was frozen in shock, staring blanking at Yami's newest monster. Suddenly, he had only a scant 1250 life points left between him and total annihilation, but somehow, he still found it in him to be defiant. There was no way he was going to relinquish control of his absent hikari's body so easily.

__

Relinquish…Relinquished…damn Yami! His face twisted into something that more closely resembled a rabid wolf's than gentle Ryou's, but he managed to regain his composure quickly enough. He had not lost the duel yet, after all. He drew and his cards' special effects kicked in, giving him 1450 life points and leaving Yami with 3100.

"Say good-bye to your monsters, Pharaoh." Bakura laughed coldly as he activated Dark Hole. "Your turn, your majesty," he added, bowing with a flourish.

Bakura still had Graverobber's Retribution and a facedown spell card on the field; the spell card had been set quite sometime ago. _It has to be a trap_, Yami reasoned, _one that has yet to be triggered. _He himself had no cards in play and only Polymerization in his hand. Yami drew, trusting the heart of the cards to guide him. "I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior 1700/1600," Yami declared, hoping that Bakura's facedown card was a bluff.

"And I activate Trap Hole," Bakura chuckled.

The tension on the beach had become a tangible thing. From his soul room in the Millennium Puzzle, Yugi wondered if this duel would end before the sun rose, as well as if Joey was okay in the Shadow Realm.

Bakura drew his next card. He now had 1650 life points and Yami had 2900. Slowly, the gap between their scores was closing. He played the card he had drawn in attack mode. "Sorcerer of the Doomed 1450/1200, attack the Pharaoh's life points directly."

Yami tried not to cringe as his life point counter plummeted to 1450 and Tea gasped. Belatedly, she remembered that. as the captain of his cheerleading squad, she had a duty to keep her doubts to herself. "It's okay, Yami! We know you're going to bring him down!"

"Yeah, man, you've been in tighter spots. We know you'll get Jou and Ryou back," Tristan added.

Yami looked thankfully in the direction of his friends, but what fueled his determination the most was the sight of Serenity. She had her face half-buried in Tristan's chest, yet one bright, hope-filled eye still met Yami's gaze. He gave her a slight nod of acknowledgment and a silent promise to return her brother to her before he drew his next card. It was the Forgiving Maiden, the card Tea had given him specifically, and this tangible reminder of her forgiveness made his burden easier to bear. Even better, it brought him closer to summoning St. Joan. "I play one card in defense and end my turn," Yami said resolutely.

Bakura drew his next card with a sneer before setting the monster in defense mode. Their life points were now 1850 and 1250, respectively. "Sorcerer of the Doomed, attack his facedown card!"

The Forgiving Maiden was flipped face up, and Bakura uttered yet another explicative as he lost 550 life points. "Your turn, Pharaoh!" he snapped.

Yami finally drew Monster Reborn, and his grin lit up the beach far more intensely than the false dawn surrounding them. "I activate Monster Reborn, and summon Marie the Fallen One to the field. Then, I'll play Polymerization to fuse the two monsters into St. Joan 2800/2000." Though he couldn't see it, Serenity lifted her face from Tristan's chest as her favourite monster appeared to win her brother back for her. "St. Joan, attack Sorcerer of the Doomed!"

And Bakura's life point counter came up all zeroes. The duel was over, and Yami still reigned as the undefeated King of Games.


	40. Chapter 40 The Return of Lost Souls

**Chapter 40 The Return of Lost Souls**

_I think I need some more reviews to keep me motivated to continue updating. Guess what? This fic is completed and neatly stashed on my hard drive...(snickers). So let me hear what you think, okay?_

_Disclaimer: No, I have no legal rights to Yugioh...those bums..._

Bakura hissed and backed away from the advancing pharaoh, one hand instinctively clutching the Ring, although it might as well have been a simple necklace by then. The Millennium Item was conscious of the fact that he had lost the duel, and so withheld its power from him. Cursing, he attempted to throw it down, but the angry spires dug painfully into his chest before abruptly releasing.

Tristan and Croquet exchanged a single glance of silent communication in the moment while Bakura struggled with the Ring. Before the tomb robber could cast it aside, the two men quickly grabbed Bakura's arms and pinned them to his sides.

"Return Joey and Ryou's souls to their bodies, and I promise I will do no more to you than seal your spirit within the Millennium Ring." The sennen eye blazed brightly on the center of Yami's forehead as he spoke, his imperious words underscored by the rose-colored flames dancing in his eyes. Against his chest, the Puzzle glowed, and Bakura glared even as he struggled against the two men holding him in place.

"No! Never! I will not submit to you, Pharaoh, not if I lose a thousand duels!" he cried obstinately, and Tristan fought the urge to backhand him across the face.

Yami grimaced. "Then you have left me no choice. Mind Crush!"

The magical blow fell with such force that Ryou's temporarily soulless shell flew back, dragging both Croquet and Tristan down with it. Silence reigned on the beach as everyone waited for some sign that Yami's spell had worked, and it was an agonizing five seconds later that Ryou's eyes cracked open just enough for the dawn's soft light to flow into them.

"Tristan?" Ryou asked uncertainly, craning his neck to verify that the man standing over him was, in fact, his friend and not another monster spawned of the Shadow Realm.

"Ryou?" Tristan responded warily, searching for the slightest sign that the person inhabiting Ryou's body was anyone but said body's rightful owner.

His task complete, Yami relinquished control of their body to Yugi, who stretched out a hand to his fellow hikari. "It's okay, Ryou. You're safe now. Yami sealed Bakura in the Millennium Ring, and he won't be able to take control again unless you summon him."

Yugi's explanation was unnecessary; even as he spoke, the white-haired boy could hear Bakura screaming in a wordless rage from within the Ring. With a relieved laugh, he snapped their mental link closed and grabbed Yugi in a desperate bear hug. "This is real, isn't it? I'm not in the Shadow Realm!"

"No, you're not," Yugi confirmed with a grin.

Tea stepped forward to give the albino blond a hug of her own. "Welcome back, Ryou."

"Yeah, man, it's good to have you back," Tristan said, and the slightly-too-vigorous thump on the back that punctuated his statement nearly sent Ryou back down into the sand.

Their happy interlude came to an abrupt end, however, when Ryou noticed Pegasus standing off to the side, looking for all the world like a statue carved from ivory and silver. "Oh my… Cecelia…" he muttered, and needed no further prodding to recount all that he had seen during his extended absence.

…….

Joey woke up drenched in sweat with Mokuba curled up against him. It had to be a hundred degrees in the room, he decided as he shifted beneath what felt like a ton of blankets. A fire crackled merrily a few feet away, and despite Jou's best efforts to kick off the blankets and get away from the flames, Mokuba's presence prevented all but the most minute of movements.

"Kuba, wake up." The boy didn't so much as stir. "Hey, c'mon! I'm roasting here!"

At length, Mokuba sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily before the full implications of his present situation sank in. "Joey! You're okay!" He wrapped his arms around Jou's neck, nearly strangling and further warming the already-overheated blond.

"I…can't…breathe…" Jou managed to choke out, and Mokuba quickly released him. Brother or not, Seto would never forgive him if he managed to suffocate Jou a scant few moments after the blond boy's awakening.

As Jou pulled himself free, he suddenly realized he was in the family room, and memories began to drop back into place. The bonfire on the beach, Bakura's kiss…_ugh, that was repulsive…_the Shadow Realm, Ryou, his fading and translucent mother…

In his urgency to his feet, Jou nearly tripped over the too-long blue pajama pants he was wearing. Growling in frustration, he tried to pull them up, only to find his efforts thwarted when the long sleeves of the silk pajama shirt slid down his hands. _What the heck am I wearing? _"Mokuba, where is everybody?"

"I don't know," Mokuba frowned. "Croquet shot Seto and… I don't remember much after that. I must have fallen asleep."

"What? What do you mean 'Croquet shot Seto'! Is he okay? Where is he?" Panic tripled the volume of Jou's voice, but before he could get an explanation out of Seto's little brother, a blazing light invaded the family room through the windows facing the beach.

That was all it took to get a slightly-unsteady Jou running for the back door, Mokuba following close behind. In his rush to get outside, however, Joey nearly bowled over the very object of his all-consuming worry. "Seto! Are you all right? Kuba said--"

He was cut off temporarily, however, when a cheery, white-haired teenager nearly crushed his rib cage in an overly-enthusiastic hug, pushing past Seto to do so. The brunet staggered, but to his credit, managed to remain upright. "Joey! I'm so glad to see you!" Ryou beamed. "I'll be right back; I've got to get the Millennium Eye. We're going to save Cecelia!"

"What? Now? The Millennium Eye is here? Bakura brought it with him?" In his confusion, Jou forgot to wait for a reply before asking another question, hating the feeling that he was the only one who wasn't up-to-date on the current situation.

Ryou nodded a global 'yes' as he dashed across the deck, realizing almost immediately that the house was wholly foreign to him. "Joey, could you..." His voice trailed off abruptly as he turned around and found Jou engaged in a desperate embrace with the cold, insensitive man who had, the last Ryou had heard, been the blond man's worst enemy. He filed this information away to be pursued later, and redirected his question, "Uh, Mokuba, could you show me to Bakura's room?"

The younger teen nodded, trotting off toward the stairs. Joey was back in Seto's arms and, as far as Mokuba was concerned, all was right with the world once more.

Once they were alone, Seto forced himself to pull away just far enough to stare at Jou through tear-glazed eyes. "I was so worried, Jou," he whispered. "... that I'd never see you again..." The effort of articulating such overpowering emotions overcame him then, and he exhaled with a shudder as Jou clutched him even tighter than he had before.

"You should know you won't lose me that easily by now, genius," he said affectionately, Behind Seto, Croquet was starting toward the house, and seeing his father's lover reminded Jou of the reason he had been so frantic a scant minute or so ago. "Mokuba said that Croquet shot you, Seto. He was joking, right? I mean, I'm sure..." Amber eyes slid down slender hips and toned thighs to stare in disbelief at the pink-tinted bandage wrapped around Seto's calf. "He didn't."

"He did," Seto deadpanned.

Joey's fists clenched, and he would have attacked Croquet right then and there had Seto's embrace not been so comfortingly unyielding. "Leave it be for now, Jou. I need you to help me get up to the library; Ryou said your mother doesn't have much time, and I'm the only one that can set up all that equipment."

"You finished the program?" Surprised by this revelation, Jou forgot his desire for revenge on Croquet.

"Yes," replied his lover honestly, "but I haven't had a chance to run the diagnostics on it." He stopped to stare into soft, admiring amber pools. "It might not work, Jou."

"Then at least you tried, baby blue eyes," replied Joey softly.

……….

Several minutes later, Jou, Mokuba, and Ryou had Seto set up on the deck with his laptop and a crude but serviceable holo projector. Seeing that their work was done, Pegasus beckoned the boys over to him, and together they watched as the sky lightened in the east, hailing the dawn of a new day. If they were successful, the sun would not be the only entity to experience rebirth that day, and that thought set both excitement and fear roiling in Max's stomach. From what Ryou had told them, it was obvious to him that, if they failed here, Cecelia would be forever lost to them, and that was something he would not be able to bear a second time. Although he knew that, whatever happened, he would always have Christopher, living with the certainty that his wife's soul had been completely obliterated would be more than his fragile psyche could handle.

Ryou extended a plain box to him then, which he took in trembling hands. For the briefest, most fleeting of moments, he contemplated hurling it far out into the ocean, but then Chris was at his side, and he had all the courage and strength he believed he would ever need. The lid of the box separated from the rest with a creak, and once again, Maximillion Pegasus gazed upon the Millennium Eye.

Yami had taken up Jou's vacated post at Seto's side, whispering conspirationally into his ear, "I believe whatever instability still exists within your program, Kaiba, can be countered by the same magic I use to manifest my own physical body."

Seto rolled his eyes. The pharaoh could be quite the arrogant little twit, but Seto had yet to figure out whether or not the King of Games did it purposely or not. "My program is not unstable," he snarled. "I just haven't had a chance to test it."

Yami frowned, and the emotion behind his face looked suspiciously like disappointment. "I had hoped the duel had taught you the value of unity, Kaiba. Pegasus is about to reclaim the Millennium Eye and, while he seems to be fine without it, I'm sure neither of us has the desire to experience his particular brand of evil again. We must therefore be cautious, and, if he exhibits any signs of his former criminal insanity, be prepared to take appropriate countermeasures." Yami sighed. "I wish there was another way, one that didn't involve the use of the Eye. Pegasus is a good man at heart; I truly believe that all he did can be blamed on the power of his Millennium Item. Perhaps they are not all driven by benevolent forces." The spirit's hand passed over his Puzzle once, thoughtfully.

Seto's eyes widened in surprise, Yami's words echoed Jou's, and he heard his lover's voice clearly in his mind once again, reminding him that it might have been the Millennium Eye that had driven Pegasus to such desperate, insane lengths. His eyes found Jou, standing by his father, and though Seto's myriad fears concerning the Duel Monsters inventor still held him in their savage claws, he had to admit the validity in his rival and his lover's twin points.

"Agreed," he answered the pharaoh shortly, meeting the crimson orbs with his own disdainful cerulean ones.

Yami nodded, satisfied that he and Kaiba had reached an understanding, and turned to watch Pegasus as he handed the box containing the Millennium Eye to Joey.

As Max put the box in his child's hands, he knelt, consigning his fate to unknowable forces and his faith to the growing bond between himself and Joseph. Absently, he brushed aside the silver veil concealing his empty eye socket and gazed up at the bewildered expression on his son's face. Wordlessly, Christopher's strong hands settled on his master's shoulders, and Pegasus steeled himself as best he could against the moment of truth. Though he had mentioned it to no one, it was possible that the Eye, having been stripped from him, would now reject him. Shadi's warning of nightmares and madness echoed through Max's mind, but he had already faced both, and believed he had come out on the far side strengthened by the experience. At best, if the Eye did accept him, the onslaught of its powerful magic and the tidal surge of thought and emotion would overcome him as the flood gates of the minds of the those around him opened upon his own. He hoped that Christopher would be enough of an anchor to hold him together.

"Chris, this will hurt," Pegasus warned his protector.

"Yes, Master Pegasus," Croquet acknowledged stoically. He would have held his lover in his arms if he could; for now, though, he would have to be satisfied with squeezing his shoulders reassuringly.

Joey gulped as he realized what Pegasus wanted him to do. "Father…I don't know if I can do this…" He stared at the sinister Eye in the unassuming box, and it seemed to glare back at him mockingly.

"Joseph, please. Now is hardly the time for hesitation or contemplation," Pegasus encouraged his son, and there was an unmistakable note of exasperation underlying his tone.

Joey picked up the golden orb and positioned it in front of the hollow socket in Pegasus' face. He could feel a throb of energy pulse through it, as though the Eye were anticipating its reunion with its former host, and shuddered visibly. _Get it together, Jou. He needs you to be strong for him._

"I love you, Father," he whispered, just loud enough for Pegasus to hear, and pushed the Millennium Eye into place.

For the briefest moment, Pegasus rejected it. He hated the damnable item and all that had been wrought because of it. Then it was as if the Eye ignited. Its power eclipsed that of the white-hot poker Kaiba had intended to spear him with, and he was blinded by pain. His hands clenched into balled fists, and tiny rivulets of blood ran from where his carefully manicured fingernails cut into his palms.

His senses came rushing back to him all at once, the colors and smells and the grit of the sand grinding through his silk pajama pants. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth as he bit down to restrain the aching desire to scream. The sound of his pounding heart competed with the ocean waves as they both increased steadily in volume. Worse than that, though, were the sounds that could not be heard, but instead sliced into his mind; the madness of thought, jumbled and confused, and the echoes of emotions that were not his own. In spite of being armed with foreknowledge of this exquisite pain, he found that he could no longer hold back the terrible piercing cry that forced its way up from the very depths of his soul.

Croquet did cradle Max in his arms then, feeling the undeniable helplessness he always did when confronted by magic. Pegasus slowly became aware of the embrace and probed Chris' mind experimentally. What he found amid the fierce loyalty and a love too deep for words was a formidable disdain for all things magical and a resignation toward the capriciousness of fate. _So it seems some things do not change in the course of fate's whimsy, _he thought to himself.

"Max?" Chris whispered in his ear, "are you okay?"

"Yes." Pegasus pushed himself up on Croquet's arms as he stood, and his bodyguard rose with him. He noticed the concerned looks the teens were giving him, but especially Joseph's as his son reached to help him regain his balance. "I'm fine, son," he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile; it felt more like a grimace. Joey looked at his father in disbelief as he and Croquet helped him to a chair on the deck. " I just need a few moments to recover, and perhaps a glass of water?" he suggested to Croquet.

But Chris was not about to leave his master's side, even for a moment, so Jou went to fulfill Pegasus' request. The silver-haired man drained half the glass gratefully when his son returned, trying to ignore a very impatient Yami as he stalked toward them. "Are we ready to begin?"

"Yes, pharaoh-boy." And indeed, Pegasus was, energized by the magic of the Millennium Eye. He rose to his feet as gracefully as ever, still refusing to acknowledge the full implications of what they were about to attempt. It was of utmost importance that he maintained a razor-sharp focus on the moment, releasing the past and allowing the future to bring what it would. Christopher was having a conniption fit in the privacy of his mind, and so Pegasus was forced to shut him out as completely as possible, although doing so gave him no comfort and, in fact, removed some. With a sigh, he joined Ryou and Yami in a rough triangle around the holo-projector.

"Is there anything the rest of us can do to help?" Serenity asked from between her brother and her boyfriend. She held their hands tightly, as though she were afraid one of them might get away.

"Yes, there is," Tea replied, looking at the boys on either side of the petite girl. "Remember when Yugi was in the Shadow Realm during the final duel with Pegasus?"

"Yeah, Tea, we can all give them our support. Not just Yami and Yugi, but Ryou _and _Pegasus too." Joey told her defensively. He firmly put Serenity's hand in Tea's, remembering that there was somebody else who could benefit from some moral support, and went to join Seto even as Mokuba ran to join the other teens.

Tea blinked, surprised more by her own insensitivity than Jou's rebuke. She hadn't meant that comment the way it had come off. Ever since she had read Maximillion Pegasus' journal, she'd known there was much more to the man than what there seemed to be. Sighing, she took Mokuba's hand in her free one and looked at the three bearers of Millennium items. "We'll be right there with you, guys!"

Yami nodded. They were going to need all the help they could get, and the strength of their friendship was a force to be reckoned with.

Stealthily, Jou draped an arm over Seto's shoulders and whispered intimately in his ear, "Even if this doesn't work, it means more than I can say that you wanted to do this for me. I love you, Seto." He kissed the angular cheekbone sweetly, and blue eyes turned to meet brown in deeply heartfelt gratitude.

Ryou, facing the deck, watched this scene play out, and his jaw dropped. The last he knew, those two had been mortal enemies. _Much has changed since I was banished to the Shadow Realm_, he reflected.

Draping one arm around Jou, Seto used the other to flick the button on his crude yet functional holo-projector. The sennen eye appeared on Yami's forehead, and the three Millennium items glowed as those that possessed them activated their power. A shower of fairy lights exploded from the machine, coalescing into a perfectly reproduced holographic image of Cecelia in a simple knee length white sundress.

………

In the Shadow Realm, Cecelia's English forest began to disappear as the last trace of her transparent form faded away.

Gina sat very still; she could still feel Lady Pegasus' soul, even though she could no longer see her. Though she was happy that Cecelia would be going back where she belonged, Gina mourned the loss of a friend. With a wistful smile, she rose, staff in hand, and spun a lightning fast pirouette before folding in on herself and vanishing.

Before she lost all sense of Cecelia, she would leave her a calling card, just in case her mistress ever needed the spunky duel monster again.

……..

A tremendous power surge went through Seto's laptop, instantly frying the hard drive as the holo-projector sparked and smoked in its own death throes. The present-day mortals were stunned as the hologram of Cecelia Pegasus wavered, blinked, and disappeared, and the bitter silence of disappointment hung over the beach.

Jou's breath caught a moment later, however, when a vertical slit appeared above Seto's crudely fashioned holo-projector. It grew and widened like a doorway between dimensions. Curiosity drew him toward it, hope filling his heart, and he reached with outstretched hands into it, drawing his mother through the narrow rift.

"Mom…" Joey whispered, awestruck. He released her hands before enfolding her in his arms.

After a moment, she drew away from him, and her eyes searched his. "Joseph, is this real? Am I alive, really alive?"

Pegasus went to her, just as astounded by the realization of his dream as she was.

"Maximillion…" She turned from her son to her one true love, her only love, and laid her head against his chest. The sensation was beyond exquisite. Wordlessly, he embraced her as gently and delicately as though she were a soap bubble that might vanish on contact.

"Please stay," he pleaded.

"I intend to," Cecelia replied around a laugh.

Max's honey brown eye widened as the golden one revealed the truth behind her seemingly-illusory presence. His lady was once again whole, body and soul, and he felt old scars on his own spirit as they began to fade under the power of her healing touch.

Cecelia suddenly realized that she was clutching something in her hand, and pulled away from her husband to examine it. "A playing card?" she said confusedly.

"It's a Duel Monsters card." Pegasus explained patiently, recognizing his company's primary product at a glance.

Joey leaned in, placing a hand on each of his parents' shoulders as he gazed at the card curiously. Suddenly, he grinned. "Not just any Duel Monsters card. Looks like Gina didn't want to lose you either, Mom."

"Cecelia, I'm so happy that you're all right," Ryou told her enthusiastically. He had waited politely for as long as he could before taking his turn to welcome the golden haired angel back to their world.

She smiled radiantly at him. "Thank you, Ryou-mouse. Your friendship has meant more to me than I can say."

Ryou's face lit up with pleasure, but he was still hesitant to face Pegasus after all that Bakura had done in his guise.

"Though your yami is a troublemaker of the highest order, I blame you for nothing," the silver-haired man reassured him, reading his mind.

Ryou started to form a protest, but it died, unspoken, on his lips . This was not the time to berate himself for his lack of control over Bakura. "Thank you. I'm glad you're okay, too."

"Mom, you've got to meet my friends," Joey said, gently pulling Cecelia from his father's grasp and leading her over to where the others were clustered.

Pegasus was reluctant to lose physical contact with her, his heart still not convinced that their combined efforts and talents had truly succeeded in resurrecting her. He owed those he'd wronged in the process of realizing his dream a tremendous debt, one he would pay later. For the time being, however, he owed an even greater debt to another.

He turned, locking his eyes with Christopher's and instantly losing himself in the steely, inscrutable gaze of his protector, friend, and lover. Croquet returned the look with equanimity, bowing formally in order to hide his misty eyes. "Congratulations, Sir. I wish you both the very best." Straightening, he gave Max a short salute. It had all happened so fast that he hadn't had the chance to absorb the impact of the events of the last few hours, and watching the tailspin that had once been his most treasured fantasy was making him ill. "With your permission, Master Pegasus, I should like to get some rest."

"Yes, Christopher, of course." Pegasus reached out to squeeze his bodyguard's upper arm, and surprise flickered across his face as the other man stepped away casually. Then, Christopher was gone, and Pegasus watched his lover stride up toward the beach house with a confident step that the bearer of the Millennium Eye knew mirrored nothing in his heart.

Seto was still on the steps of the deck when Jou brought Cecelia over to introduce her to the man who had recreated her body. In their wake trailed excited, praise-lavishing teenagers, who soon had the technological genius surrounded.

"It… worked." Seto stared at Jou with huge, wonder-filled eyes as he spoke, still shocked that he had been able to fulfill his promise.

Joey laughed in response. "Of course it did, genius. Now, you need to get some sleep." After a brief round of introductions, he helped Seto up, draping one of his boyfriend's arms over his shoulders so that the brunet could hobble into the house without putting any weight on his injured leg. Seto smiled gratefully at him, the gesture so minute that only Jou realized his lips had moved at all.

Yami had retreated into his soul room as soon as Bakura was dealt with, so drained by the proceedings that he didn't think he would be able to re-emerge for another five thousand years. Tea was hugging Yugi enthusiastically, and Tristan had wrapped his arms around Serenity possessively. Despite their outward appearances, they were all just as exhausted as Yami, and it occurred to Yugi just how unfair it was that Seto and Jou should be the only couple that could take comfort from each other after the trials of the night.

"I think we should switch rooms, just for today," he suggested. "After all, we all need to get some rest. Mokuba, would you mind sharing our room with Ryou?"

Oh, my gosh, I don't ever want to be a horny teenager! Mokuba thought, misinterpreting Yugi's platonic intentions. "Okay, Yugi. Come on, Ryou; let's get your stuff."

The rest of the group followed them, everyone satisfied with what they had achieved. However, for Croquet, there would be little enough to celebrate once they had reclaimed enough energy to do so. While he was genuinely happy for Max and Cecelia, his legs seemed leaden, and it was only with a great effort that he was able to force them to work at all. His plan was to retrieve his possessions from his and Max's bedroom and claim the library as his new quarters. From there, he would play things by the proverbial ear and see what happened.

Neither he nor Max had expected the night before last to be their last together. For years, Cecelia had existed only as a memory that Pegasus was determined to retrieve, and though Chris had always supported his lover's dreams, this one had been fulfilled far too soon for his liking. Nevertheless, though, Chris had a promise to keep, and regardless of the savage longing tearing at his heart, he would remain true to his word.

On the deck he paused, looking back at the happily re-united couple. He was only too aware that Max had never looked at him the way he looked at his queen, and not even the bubbling bitterness was enough to pierce the numbing shell that had settled over his heart.

……….

Pegasus had been lost in his lady's eyes for so long that he failed to notice that they were alone on the beach until long after the others had already gone inside. Once he did, however, shyness overcame him. Here she was, his dream of seventeen years, as alive and radiant as she had been on the day of their wedding, and all he could do was gawk mutely at her.

"Maximillion?"

"Is this a dream?" he asked, his voice small and childlike. He was afraid to believe that she was real, though his passion for her was so intense that it pained him. Suddenly, throwing caution to the tides, he kissed her, his lips carrying to hers a yearning so long denied that it seemed infinite.

"No, beloved, it's real. I'm real. When you wake from the rest you so sorely need, I will still be here," she promised in a whisper once their kiss broke, stroking her husband's silver mane soothingly. "Shall we go inside?" She took his hand, intending to draw him toward the house. Though she herself felt vibrant and fresh, she recognized his need for repose.

More than shock that kept Pegasus rooted to the spot. She was a perfect eighteen-year-old girl for whom time had stopped, who had spent almost as many years in the Shadow Realm as she had in her own dimension. He, on the other hand, had aged, and felt it now as he never had before.

Max looked toward the house, catching Chris' eyes for the briefest moment as his protector entered the building. Christopher had been correct; he had had seventeen years in which to prepare for the eventualities beyond his single-minded focus on his bride's resurrection, and yet he had failed looked to examine what lay beyond the moment with the same intensity. The fact remained, however, that they were different people than they had been.

With the assistance of the Millennium Eye, he gently caressed her mind, and her desire for the careless stability that could only be achieved through denial mirrored his own. Cecelia was, in fact, quite eager to embrace her second chance to live the life they had both dreamed of, and he wondered if her ability to accept him for the man he had become was as infinite as she believed it to be, and he wished it were. However, Max had all too recently been given his own second chance at life, and though he had believed the ghosts of his past buried with his wife, he had found it all too easy to accept Seto Kaiba's offer. _Clean breaks with one's own past are impossible._

"My darling, darling Cecelia…" he murmured, kneeling before her in the sand as he took her hands in his. Reverently, he gazed into the crystalline depths of her eyes, and she stared back, worry clouding her perfect features.

Max kissed her palms, sensing her doubts and misgivings, yet still determined to tell her the truth. After all this time chasing her shadow, he owed her reality that much. "It's been seventeen years--"

"There's another woman," Cecelia finished for him, her voice betraying the warring emotions in her heart. Of course there would have been others, she told herself. She could not, would not have expected her husband to leap into the grave with her. Still, she was confused. He had brought her back, had wanted her back. Would he truly be so cruel as to have returned her to life only to cast her out of his heart completely? "Love eternal will not be denied," she whispered, her voice cracking despite her brave, regal facade.

"No, it will not, Lady Pegasus, and I shall eternally love you," he promised, the soothingly spoken words only adding to her bewilderment. The mere knowledge that she could doubt him wounded his heart; he could not bear to have her faith in him compromised. "There have been no other women; I am not so arbitrary with my heart, Cecelia." Though he wanted to be honest with her, he recognized that that moment might not have been the ideal time to make a full confession.

Fortunately, she seemed to accept his statement at face value, and he caressed her bare arms lovingly, enthralled by her silken flesh. "Would you care to stay outside a while longer? I have no particular wish to retire as yet."

She grinned devilishly, the expression in sharp contrast to her angelic features. "Has it been so long, my love, that you've forgotten that beds have more than one use?"

If the events of his wife's return had been sudden to him before, they had sped up to a sickening speed now, and Max' brow crinkled as he sought to recover his mental equilibrium. "I had had something else in mind, my darling," he confessed, and Cecelia rolled her eyes teasingly.

"Please, Maximillion, don't tell me you want me to sit for yet another portrait to commemorate the occasion," she said jokingly. "If you spend too much time trying to immortalize life, you'll forget to live it."

"Perhaps later, my love." He returned her smile tenfold. "No, actually, I had just realized that your wardrobe is rather limited…"

She giggled, wiggling her bare toes in the sand. "And, of course, you have a plan to ameliorate this travesty?"

"Indeed I have," he chuckled, drawing her to her feet and toward the house. There were a thousand things that he wanted to tell her and twice that many he wanted to ask, but he only laughed, sweeping the woman he loved off her feet into an embrace that was more of a dance. "I love you, Cecelia. I love you."

She laughed until she cried, and he set her down reverently. "Are you hungry, Lady Pegasus? Croquet fixes a mean omelette, and then he can drive us into town. We'll expand your wardrobe and--"

Cecelia cut off his gushing tirade with a hand on his arm, smiling up at him indulgently. "As you wish, my love," she replied simply.


End file.
